No shortcuts if we follow the Welsh road to success
LIKE the boy racer who sticks a couple of go-faster stripes on his hatchback and believes he’s now at the wheel of a Le Mans prototype, there are those in Scottish football who will forever grab and grasp for the shiniest accessories.
In our case, these are the cheap-and-cheerful whistles and bells of made-to-order footballing models capable of leaving the opposition for dead.
We’ve been doing it for a couple of decades now. Looking at teams who outperform expectations and convincing ourselves that this could be us, if only we copy the easiest elements of their success — and the least expensive ones, naturally. Going well, that plan, is it?
Until someone actually rips out the engine and designs something that works for us, a tailored infrastructure likely to incur a serious cost in both hard cash and short-term pain, we can forget about even making the start line.
Think on that, when the people who sold us bargain knock-offs of the German, Dutch and French models — remember the fascination with the famed Clairefontaine academy? — start making encouraging noises about how we can be the next Wales or the new Iceland.
Can we pick up pointers from such tiny footballing nations where the game has flourished against all odds? Of course. It would be foolish to simply ignore the lessons of their success at Euro 2016.
But the root-and-branch change needed here in Scotland won’t be achieved by simply patching a few easy Welsh or Icelandic details onto whatever blueprint Brian McClair lays out in his long-awaited review of our ailing game. That would be like putting Gordon Strachan’s men in a classic Escape To Victory strip and expecting them to reach the knockout stages of a major finals.
First, let’s be clear. This isn’t a lazy crack at the SFA, the SPFL or even their league predecessors. We are all — supporters, coaches, administrators and the media — responsible for the enduring air of mediocrity.
Why? Because we create an environment where it’s simply impossible to take the necessary steps. We aren’t willing to put in the hard yards.
You want to do what Iceland have done? OK, then let’s go back to Henry McLeish’s report of six years ago. When he included a section recommending that £500million be spent on facilities, it was simply accepted that he might as well have pitched for a youth academy on the far side of the moon.
Oh no, Henry. At a time when libraries, day centres and emergency rooms were being closed in order to pay the bankers’ bills, that simply wouldn’t be possible.
Fine. That was a tough decision that needed to be made. But don’t then throw your hands up and wonder why the average first touch in the Scottish game is still about as subtle as a Michael Gove statement.
If you don’t give kids somewhere to work on their technique during those long, dark, winters, they will inevitably lean towards the kick-and-hope school of soccer.
Yeah but look at Wales. OK let’s look at Wales. And ask yourself if anyone in Scotland would be willing to accept the policy put in place by John Toshack a dozen years ago — one that he knew was going to pay off in the long run, yet ended with him getting the sack.
Toshack blooded a whole squad of players who weren’t anywhere near ready for the international game. Having looked at the old guard and decided that repeating the same pattern of failure could no longer be an option, he simply swept the lot of it away.
He still talks about going to see Ashley Williams playing for Stockport against Hereford in England’s League Two, then nipping away at half-time to catch a young Joe Ledley turn out for Cardiff.
Joe Allen was in the middle of the Championship with Swansea long before they became everyone’s favourite tiki-taka darlings, Aaron Ramsey hadn’t established himself at Arsenal — and even Gareth Bale was dismissed by some as too slight, too hampered by injuries, to make the grade at Tottenham.
Toshack put them all in, and more besides, effectively writing off qualifying campaigns for the sake of the long-term good. The norm was to finish much closer to the bottom of their qualifying section than the top. Wins against Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Cyprus and San Marino were cherished as consolation for a main diet of misery.
Yet seven of that generation now have 40 caps or more. Of the 14 players used by Chris Coleman in their first fixture at Euro 2016, nine made their debuts under Toshack.
When it was previously suggested in this column that Strachan should effectively write off the next World Cup qualifying campaign, instead using it to field whatever fresh talent there might be and mould them into a unit who will be good enough in five or six years’ time, the idea was laughed out of the room.
No, no, no. We are Scotland. We can’t just throw fresh meat into the fray against England at Wembley. We’ve got a duty to protect the standing of this proud footballing nation. So we scrap for every point. Pick teams simply to avoid getting a doing. Hope for a lucky break.
Some even cling to the fantasy that a ‘golden generation’ will emerge and force their way into the Scotland squad. Yeah, that’ll happen. Maybe if we get our boys to do that Icelandic victory celebration, big Gordon Greer standing with arms aloft to conduct the orchestrated clapping … ah, yes, that must be the secret.