We have got to hope common sense can break out at Hampden
With a new year comes fresh hope and optimism for the months ahead of us.
Peace and goodwill to all men and all that, with the SFA and the SPFL leading the way.
But as it stands, Israel already have the advantage ahead of our crunch Euro 2020 play-off semifinal in March.
In a brazen act of common sense and collective national unity, the Israeli league have decided to comply with a request from international boss Andreas Herzog to cancel all of their domestic fixtures in the weekend leading up to the showdown with Scotland.
Herzog has also arranged for his squad to take part in a training camp four days before their date with destiny.
That ’ s quite a statement of intent as to the seriousness of their bid to beat us.
The Israeli league’s chairman Erez Halfon came out with a quote which his SPFL counterpart Nei l Doncaster could do well to heed.
He said: “We are all united behind the team and wish it success in the play-offs.”
The SFA are in talks with the league – well they do share the same floor at Hampden – and they are looking to assist boss Steve Clarke’s wish for all Premiership games to be cancelled ahead of the game.
It has been a few months now since Clarke knew the situation about the play-offs with regards to our opponents and the preparations he would need.
If he believes having a weekend of games put off is what is required to aid our bid to win one of our biggest ever games then that’s what should happen.
No ifs or buts, no Doncaster prevarication about fixture pile-ups or television companies refusing to budge, just get it sorted and do it now.
Scottish football has a habit of turning even the most basic of decisions into a drama and no doubt this will become a saga of similar proportions.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell is well aware of the politics which are a barrier to progress within our game and it’s a battle which he intends to win over time.
His ambition to become a reformer in his role has been a story of frustration due to committee rule and procedure af ter procedure whi le following an archaic rule book.
But if Israel can bring a halt to their domestic calendar for one sol itary weekend for the good of thei r national team then so can we.
If Scotland can somehow navigate through the playoffs and reach the Euro finals then the boost for football in this country, both financially and for its very sporting soul, would be immense.
We should be bending over backwards to give Clarke all he wants ahead of this fixture. So this will be an acid test for those who run our game to see if they can cut through some red tape and play their part.
If history shows us anything it’s that it also wouldn’t be wise to hold your breath on Doncaster and Co getting this sorted now and making a statement similar to the Israelis anytime soon.
But hope does spring eternal and it won’t be long until March comes around. No time to waste Neil, just make it so.