Scottish Football and Society; Excuses and the negative mindset

[DA Baracus]

You often hear from the most successful people that they don’t look for excuses and instead view obstacles as a challenge or a difficult experience as a learning point. They also take in account such challenges and ensure they are adequately prepared. This applies to sport and business.

 

I believe in Scottish football there is a very negative mentality where excuses are used far too often. Instead of working harder to overcome or taking responsibility and learning, excuses are trotted out all the time. See things like ‘the pitch’, ‘the weather’, ‘the referee’, ‘the travel’ and so on. It seems to be something that pervades Scottish society as a whole. Look at the mewling there is anytime we play at Central Park. Howls of ‘the pitch!’ are bellowed even before a ball is kicked. Some people discuss who the referee is before a game and usually claim that the ref hates their club.

 

Before Celtic’s recent away game against Astana all I was hearing on the radio was chat about the how hot it was, how it was an artificial pitch and how they had to travel for 5 hours. It was like everyone was getting in their excuses early.

 

There seems to be little acceptance of responsibility in Scottish football, and in my experience, in Scottish society as a whole. It seems that there are always reasons for poor performances and results. People seem ingrained to make excuses in advance, as if they fear the worst and want to be able to point to mitigating circumstances should the worst transpire.

 

I believe that this attitude pervades our society and especially football. Footballers and managers in this country are always crying about artificial pitches and the ref/linesman. I believe this is part of the reason why the national team is so poor currently.

 

Whilst in isolation it’s not the answer I think that a more positive attitude and taking more responsibility would see our footballers progress. By dwelling on the negative they create a negative mindset and by having ready excuses do not take responsibility and so are almost complacent. If you think there is an excuse for why you never performed well, it surely follows that you are good enough so don’t need to put in extra work. However if you take responsibility you can see where a weakness may lie and put in the hard work to improve.

 

It really is time to ditch the excuses and the negativity. Of course there is pretty much zero chance of this happening (and things will largely remain the same, but one can dream) as it will unearth the truth that we are all fallible and make mistakes. For some reason many seem to be terrified of this intrinsic truth and run from it, throwing all the excuses they can in its path. Personally I think it’s liberating to admit and is a positive thing that can help personal development.

 

 

Or am I talking a whole load of shite (again)?

[Cream Cheese]

6 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

Or am I talking a whole load of shite (again)?

 

This.

Scottish football is shite.

[Kryptonite]

Birthday caird pish.

[Ross.]

Our attitude towards most things tends to focus on the negative and bleak. I blame the lack of sunshine.

[Boostin' Kev]

I hate hearing excuses although not so much a Scottish mentality as UK imo.  Mainland Europeans seem to be a lot more upbeat and say what you want about the US they have a definite can do attitude.

[KnightswoodBear]

I think we could save a lot of time and effort by just saying it's Sevco's fault.

[philpy]

Lee wallace.

[Sergeant Wilson]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

You often hear from the most successful people that they don’t look for excuses and instead view obstacles as a challenge or a difficult experience as a learning point. They also take in account such challenges and ensure they are adequately prepared. This applies to sport and business.

 

 

 

I believe in Scottish football there is a very negative mentality where excuses are used far too often. Instead of working harder to overcome or taking responsibility and learning, excuses are trotted out all the time. See things like ‘the pitch’, ‘the weather’, ‘the referee’, ‘the travel’ and so on. It seems to be something that pervades Scottish society as a whole. Look at the mewling there is anytime we play at Central Park. Howls of ‘the pitch!’ are bellowed even before a ball is kicked. Some people discuss who the referee is before a game and usually claim that the ref hates their club.

 

 

 

Before Celtic’s recent away game against Astana all I was hearing on the radio was chat about the how hot it was, how it was an artificial pitch and how they had to travel for 5 hours. It was like everyone was getting in their excuses early.

 

 

 

There seems to be little acceptance of responsibility in Scottish football, and in my experience, in Scottish society as a whole. It seems that there are always reasons for poor performances and results. People seem ingrained to make excuses in advance, as if they fear the worst and want to be able to point to mitigating circumstances should the worst transpire.

 

 

 

I believe that this attitude pervades our society and especially football. Footballers and managers in this country are always crying about artificial pitches and the ref/linesman. I believe this is part of the reason why the national team is so poor currently.

 

 

 

Whilst in isolation it’s not the answer I think that a more positive attitude and taking more responsibility would see our footballers progress. By dwelling on the negative they create a negative mindset and by having ready excuses do not take responsibility and so are almost complacent. If you think there is an excuse for why you never performed well, it surely follows that you are good enough so don’t need to put in extra work. However if you take responsibility you can see where a weakness may lie and put in the hard work to improve.

 

 

 

It really is time to ditch the excuses and the negativity. Of course there is pretty much zero chance of this happening (and things will largely remain the same, but one can dream) as it will unearth the truth that we are all fallible and make mistakes. For some reason many seem to be terrified of this intrinsic truth and run from it, throwing all the excuses they can in its path. Personally I think it’s liberating to admit and is a positive thing that can help personal development.

 

 

 

 

 

Or am I talking a whole load of shite (again)?

 

I was going to read that, but I'm a bit tired, I might go back to it later. Unless something else turn up.

[Fullerene]

1 hour ago, DA Baracus said:

I believe in Scottish football there is a very negative mentality.

Life in general actually.

I know people who are delightfully gloomy about everything.
If the team does well - then we will obviously lose all our best players
The weather is too hot, too cold or not going to last
Applied for a job but probably won't get it
Won the lottery but that probably means new problems.
Cheer up, smile a bit more - yeah I tried that once and dislocated my jaw.

.. but if you ask them, they say they have a cheery, positive outlook to life!

[throbber]

John Logie Baird invented the television and when people went to congratulate him he said "aye but there's f**k all on!"

[Kejan]

An excellent post, and much further than football.

Would say it's a UK thing and not just a Scottish thing. Watching the Olympics yesterday when some British swimmer came 4th and of course it was all the other three's fault for going much faster than the 'plucky Brit' who ''deserved a medal''.

[Broomhill Ultra]

say what you want about the US they have a definite can do attitude.

And how's that working out for them? All good?

[Sergeant Wilson]

6 minutes ago, Kejan said:

An excellent post, and much further than football.

Would say it's a UK thing and not just a Scottish thing. Watching the Olympics yesterday when some British swimmer came 4th and of course it was all the other three's fault for going much faster than the 'plucky Brit' who ''deserved a medal''.

What's that got to do with it?

[Boostin' Kev]

42 minutes ago, Broomhill Ultra said:

 

And how's that working out for them? All good?

Pretty good generally.

[Torpar]

Have to agree with the OP, big part of why I moved was the general negative attitude people in Scotland seem to have. Even when I was applying for my work permit, a lot of comments like "that'll be expensive though" and "there's a good chance you won't get it though eh?" Negative first a lot of people.

And the football excuses annoy me too. "The pitch at Cowden blah blah blah..." Both teams have to play on the same surface, and the full time Pars team last year should have been able to play them in the car park outside and still won.

"The ref blah blah blah..." Play well enough that how good or bad the ref is becomes irrelevant

"If xxxx team had won/drawn/not laid down we would have won the league etc..." Maybe if your team should have played better through out the course of the season and you wouldn't have to rely on other teams (Sutton ya w**k)

"We have to travel xx hours to get there and play in the heat" yeah and the other team have to travel the same distance and play in the awful weather here

Also the way people are almost forgiven for being shit. Player blazes it over the bar "ohhh, unlucky mate" Luck had nothing to do with it, the guy hit an awful shot.

[throbber]

There's a thread in here about summing your life up in one goal that is funny as f**k and sums up this negative attitude perfectly.

[Broomhill Ultra]

Pretty good generally.

Aye well they would with their perfect artificial pitches and excellent standards of refereeing.

[Boostin' Kev]

I wasn't referring to sports.

[Cream Cheese]

45 minutes ago, Torpar said:

Have to agree with the OP, big part of why I moved was the general negative attitude people in Scotland seem to have. Even when I was applying for my work permit, a lot of comments like "that'll be expensive though" and "there's a good chance you won't get it though eh?" Negative first a lot of people.

And the football excuses annoy me too. "The pitch at Cowden blah blah blah..." Both teams have to play on the same surface, and the full time Pars team last year should have been able to play them in the car park outside and still won.

"The ref blah blah blah..." Play well enough that how good or bad the ref is becomes irrelevant

"If xxxx team had won/drawn/not laid down we would have won the league etc..." Maybe if your team should have played better through out the course of the season and you wouldn't have to rely on other teams (Sutton ya w**k)

"We have to travel xx hours to get there and play in the heat" yeah and the other team have to travel the same distance and play in the awful weather here

Also the way people are almost forgiven for being shit. Player blazes it over the bar "ohhh, unlucky mate" Luck had nothing to do with it, the guy hit an awful shot.

FFS what a negative post. Sure glad you don't live here anymore.

[Torpar]

47 minutes ago, Cream Cheese said:

FFS what a negative post. Sure glad you don't live here anymore.

Being negative is a part of my culture!