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Open Letter to the SFA and Tartan Army


jamie1314

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Open Letter to the SFA and the Tartan Army faithful.

Forget about Berti Vogts, George Burley and even Costa Rica. The 8th October 2015 was the night that the Scottish International Football team officially died. Bypass the game itself or the standard of the Polish. The facts of the matter are that following the result at Hampden and elimination from the European Championships, Scotland fell from their extended spell in 'also rans' of qualifying mediocrity to the realms of International minnows along with San Marino, Malta and Gilbralter.

With one game to go Scotland find themselves in forth place in the group and in all truth are lucky to have finished there. We must now consign ourselves to the fact that that we are being outplayed outgunned and yes - out qualified by teams such as Lithuania and Latvia. Both of which have qualified for major tournaments more recently than Scotland. This being 18 years and counting or 9 tournaments if you prefer.

The SFA were one of the main instigators of having the Championships extended from 16 teams to 24. Stating that a larger tournament would not only increase revenue for all participating nations but would give a more accurate representation of the level of European international football by eliminating the majority of the 'smaller' nations and 'whipping boys' at the qualifying stage.

As a result, the tournament was increased meaning not only would 24 of the 52 teams entering the tournament qualify (46%), but with the addition of the 'play off' round, 27 teams would still be in contention at the conclusion of qualifying, A staggering 52%. The facts in the cold light of day is that Scotland couldn't even achieve that whilst at the same time Israel, Slovenia and Albania grasped the opportunity with both hands.

Following the draw for the groups it was owe so predictable that the cries of 'group of death' and 'you couldn't have hand picked a worse group' were always going to come and yes to an extent it was unlucky to be paired with the current world champions for the third qualification campaign in a row (Spain & Italy). However if as a footballing nation, Scotland want to be seen as not 'world beaters' but adequate contenders then Poland, Ireland and Georgia should not be seen as a disaster.

Gordon Strachan may have bluffed his way through smoke and mirrors into galvanising the country and giving the Tartan Army their 'roar' back. However, history and qualification tables don't lie. Having finished forth in this group Scotland are consigned to their worst qualification failure since the 1988 European Championships. It is hard to take any positives from a qualification group where only 5 points from 18 were taken from the teams above us and our home/away double victory came against Gibraltar. A country with a population smaller than Glasgow.

So as our neighbours in London, Cardiff, Dublin and Belfast head off to France next summer we can look forward to yet another tournament of nothing more than sweating it out and praying that England don't win it before settling down to watch our domestic teams being eliminated from European competition before the end of August by teams from Georgia and Lithuania. There is an irony in there somewhere.

Going forward I don't have an answer or solution but as an loyal and frustrated member of the Tartan Army supporting my nation through thick and thin. Paying the inflated prices for not only single games but international season books and new shirts at £60 ever 18 months I don't believe its my responsibility to find an answer or solution. That's the job of the SFA and the powers that be and to add insult to injury looking at the current state of the under 21s and 17s I don't hold out much hope for the next 9 tournaments either.

So here it is then as we close the book on yet another failed qualification campaign and look to the next with the prospect of the Auld Enemy I think that even in their beleaguered and battered state they only see the prospect of a home/away fixture against us as an easy six points.

In conclusion, I think it is more than fair to say that the only thing in a state worse than the Scottish National Football team is the English National Rugby Team. A grave and somewhat terminal comparison indeed.

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You have no right to look down on the welsh. You would love to be where they are today with their team. Jocks are so bitter they ignore the truth.

We would love to be where you are at the moment but remember its taken you 58 years and one exceptional player to get there. Not exactly a great record yourselves mate.
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Funny to mention the 1988 Euros and then immediately assume we've already beaten Gibraltar in the final game. We had a guaranteed four (old) points going into the final game against Luxembourg then too, as I recall.

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Scottish football is corrupt from top to bottom .

Genuine progress will never happen because of self interest.

I have said for years that we should be looking at the systems successful nations like Germany have adopted instead of considering copying the Icelandic method !!!. Have a total re think of the way we look at football. Do we want to have football as our national sport or just go on feeding the egos and wallets of the dinosaurs running our coaching and development ?

If we want to seriously want to compete , we need to disregard all the bullshit from our wonderful media clowns who dictate by regurgitating the same pish as they did 30 years ago.

Take the bull by the horns and actually help youth football. Give players licence to show off their skills instead of shackling them to tried and failed formations that every coach in the country is taught . Scrap the old boys network at Largs which incidentally was not in place when we did actually qualify regularly for major tournaments.

As for the National team , I think Strachan was a breath of fresh air at the start but he has turned into the same old puppet as before, governed by clowns in blazers more interested in making as much money as possible with very little outlay. The media have basically forced his hand as regards team selection. The same old tired players are used time and again , no matter how much they let the side down. No imagination is used , it is merely a case of trying to grind out results. We need a complete change of direction now. Play in form players. Give youth a chance . We have nothing to lose.

We failed to qualify by being loyal to so many failures. Let's start to show a bit of imagination and flair and break free from the turgid institution Scottish football has become.

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Something to be said for the money chucked at players in this country. I know apart from the better teams in the premiership it's not that much (still more than I earn right enough) but there is no incentive as there is for a player from say eastern Europe or Africa to go abroad to earn better money and at the same time play better players and improve. So they sit and rot away in Scotland and retire at 28 because no one else fancies them but f**k it, they've made enough to set themselves up for life. And settling on a team based on championship players is mediocre. Aye, money's there but it's not quality. But we seem to settle for it.

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