Forget the egos and get on withmakinggamebetter
EVERY small nation should be confident. If you’ve ever travelled across the North Sea to Denmark, a country with a similar population to Scotland, you’ll find a society at ease with itself.
But they rarely feel the need to shout about how great it is.
Sometimes I worry that we Scots, when it comes to football, still have entitlement issues. Confidence turns into a thinly veiled arrogance when it comes to assessing our club football in comparison with other small countries.
I’m not really sure where it comes from unless we think we are still in the 1970s or ’80s.
The days of Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen lifting European silverware, and Dundee United reaching a Uefa Cup final, are far removed from most fans’ memories.
So why do we act as though by the forces of natural law, these days will soon come again?
We’ve heard it for many years now when the draw is made for the early rounds of European qualifying: “If Scottish Team X doesn’t beat Montenegrin Team Y, there is something wrong. We should TIME will tell but my gut feeling is Olivier Ntcham will turn out to be an excellent addition for Celtic ahead of arguably the club’s most important phase this term.
The importance of assembling a squad strong enough to lift Brendan Rodgers’ men into the Champions League group stage is certainly not lost on the manager himself.
Ntcham is one of many talented French youth internationals to have been brought up on the outskirts of Paris. That he didn’t quite make the grade at Manchester City is no slight on the midfielder’s abilities. In fact, he probably made the right move in going to Genoa on a be beating these teams nine times out of 10.” Honestly?
The uncomfortable reality is that our sides are “these teams” now in the minds of just about everyone else.
There is no fear factor and, frankly, why should there be?
Celtic are the exception. They get a pass here but even the current Scottish champions have performed poorly in certain crucial qualifiers.
Wtwo-year loan as a 19-year-old to get game time.
The overall impression with Ntcham is that he hasn’t quite found his best position yet. Is he a deep-sitting central midfielder, or better suited to operating a bit higher up? My guess is Rodgers is attracted by his tactical flexibility and already sound technique.
But the Celtic boss will feel he can refine Ntcham’s game along the lines of his work with Stuart Armstrong at the club. Some day, Celtic will look to cash in on their investment and transfer Ntcham back down south.
In the here and now, this looks like a relationship that will work well for all parties. AS it a surprise to see Rangers and St Johnstone crash out of the Europa League at the first hurdle against opposition from Luxembourg and Lithuania?
Not if you consider that Scottish teams have bitten the dust in the early rounds against teams from Armenia and Malta in the last couple of seasons.
So how do we make our football better? What are we neglecting? Are we scared of criticism?
Summer football is often put forward as a cure for all ills. I personally don’t see it in this context. Instead it just seems logical to me to play our most popular sport at a time when pitches are better – helping the technical side and making viewing conditions more favourable.
There is the added benefit of filling a void in the calendar which could be attractive to TV companies.
But there surely is no magic wand. This will take a collaborative approach from everyone in our game.
In Germany two decades ago, they realised many things were wrong at the very core and got every club to buy into new ideas to up the standard of German football.
Look where they are today. Granted we can’t compare a country of 80million with one of 5m, but the point is improvements can be made if we check our egos at the door and think as a football nation.
Hopefully the “these teams” attitude can be consigned to the dustbin. If last week wasn’t a wake up call, I’m not sure what is.