T
HE dust has well and truly settled on another heroic failure to qualify for a major tournament. There will be no colourful souvenirs with Ecosse 2016 and copies of French phrase books will gather dust in Scottish bookstores.
Since the World Cup of 1998 Scotland have been sadly consistent in not qualifying for any major tournament. It seems that no matter how much the Tartan Army want to believe that this time the country will manage to qualify, the team manage to throw it all away.
So what is the problem? Why is it that Scotland can produce quality players but when they get together as a team they play like they have no idea what is at stake. Playing for the shirt and the honour of playing for your country are phrases I have heard since I was a young boy.
Scotland’s great players of the past, Denis Law, Jim Baxter, Billy Bremner etc, were all examples of this ideal. This passion and pride was on display when in 1967 Scotland were invited to play against the newly crowned world champions England.
Not only did Scotland beat England 3-2, but they showed a flair and belief that was exemplified when Baxter had the audacity to play keepie up.
This was perhaps Scotland’s finest hour: Scotland