Silver lining

I'm not buying the "I'm suffering a Tory government, get me out of here" hysteria, for several reasons, not least that when Labour told us in 1997 that "things can only get better" they did for a while but it's not like 2010 is much more financially stable than 1997.  In short, I'm not as scared as everyone else of the Tories being back in power.

But here's really why I'm not so bothered:

England won the FIFA World Cup in 1966.

England won the Rugby World Cup in 2003.

In 1966, Harold Wilson was the Prime Minister of a Labour government.

In 2003, Tony Blair was the Prime Minister of a Labour government.

In short, England have won World Cups - but always under a Labour government.  So when Gordon Brown got so spectacularly thumped last Thursday, he didn't just lose an election and the opportunity to govern again.  He lost England the World Cup as well.

So, even for the 84% of Scots who are mad that they didn't vote for the Tories and still got a Tory government, be comforted in the knowledge that it may just save us from 50 years of clips showing Rio Ferdinand parading the FIFA World Cup Trophy (as the new one is called).  Silver lining indeed.

(Incidentally, before the comments come saying I should be supporting England at the tournament, I'll say now - I can't be bothered with the argument.  If they win it, well done.  If they don't, too bad.  I won't really be that bothered either way.  I just wish the media would calm down some).

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World Cup Predictions

In light of Celtic's bold swoop for Robbie Keane as the transfer window shut yesterday (get in!) here's a post on footie.  Not quite on the same topic - its my World Cup prediction.  And though the sport is different, this will prepare you for 7 weeks of rugby chat (and the Superbowl on Sunday) given the Six Nations is about to start.  But more of that later.

So here you go.  

When the World Cup finishes in South Africa, you can check how right (or, more likely, how wrong) I was with my predictions.  I'm always stupid enough to back Spain and the Netherlands at international competitions, and they always disappoint, so I'm not expecting much.  Anyway, thoughts - and your predictions - in the comments.

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The new Scottish international

Interesting news from FIFA this week that the Scottish Football Association's proposal (backed by the Welsh FA) to allow anyone who has at least 5 years of schooling in a particular country in Britain the opportunity to play for said country, regardless of where they were born, has been ratified.

It means that Andrew Driver of Hearts - an England Under-21 international - could be called up to represent Scotland. He was schooled in Scotland - and played schoolboy international football for Scotland - but previously did not qualify to play internationals for us because neither he, his parents nor his grandparents were born here. At 21, he's been smart enough to say that he wouldn't make any decisions as to whether he would accept any invitation to play for Scotland until an invitation has actually been extended.

Interestingly though, Driver - should he be asked to play for Scotland - would not be the first to be called up under this new rule. Celtic's 14 year old Islam Feruz has been selected for Scotland's Under 17 side. And his story is, I think, part of the reason for the rule change. Islam is Somali-born, and his family moved to Scotland 7 years ago. He has grown up (well, as grown up as you are at 14) in Glasgow and still attends Hillhead High. He reckons in the past 7 years he has been made to feel welcome in Scotland and that it is his home - and he'll be proud to wear the shirt.

The whole thing raises an interesting question regarding nationalities - yes, that old chestnut. There are, obviously, some traditionalists who are dead-set against it, arguing that you are only Scottish if you are born here. That, I guess, is an old-fashioned argument, and does not take account of modern developments in society. It also, I guess, borders on xenophobic (though maybe just borders on it - I'm not accusing ex-Scotland internationalists and managers of that) in the sense that it excludes people from representing Scotland based on their place of birth. However, that is how international football works, so I guess it isn't quite as racist as it sounds!

The point I would make is that nations are no longer - if they ever were - single nationalities. Modern Scotland is a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic place. Some have moved here to escape hardship in their country of birth, others have simply thought of Scotland as a place to settle. Their intention though (for the most part) is to contribute to this society, to this nation. Whether they are born in England and have relocated to Scotland through their parents' jobs (in Driver's case) or escaped a war-torn state to start a new life here (in Feruz's) the response should be no different. They contribute to Scottish society and have lived here long enough that they "feel" Scottish. If these guys see themselves as Scottish, and want to represent Scotland, then I don't have a problem with it.

I mean, its not as if we can claim they are glory-hunters, is it?

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Team GB

Should I try to be less controversial today?

I reckon I got a taste of what it is like to be a non-Nat in the blogosphere at the weekend and I have much more respect for those opposing voices now. Apparently nothing critical of the SNP Government will be allowed in an independent Scotland.

Anyway, I see Sepp Blatter has approved the "Team England" for the 2012 Olympics. That'll help the US commentators, who seem to confuse "England" and "Britain" anyway.

Although this is being touted as an "ideal solution" I really don't think it is. Mind you, a number of teams at various Olympic events have been made up specifically of athletes from a single component part of the UK - curling, rowing, cycling, sailing etc. So it is not without precedent. But this is slightly different. I wonder - are proponents and opponents of the idea happy with this fudged solution?

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Irn Bru

I watched Barcelona beating Manchester United to the Champions League trophy last night. It was like watching an orchestra play when Barcelona had the ball - everyone had their part, knew what to do, and were playing to a higher standard than the buskers in playing in white.

Anyway, this new Irn Bru advert aired at half-time of the coverage on ITV. It thought it quite an amusing take on our other national drink: "It's fizzy, it's ginger, it's phenomenal." Quite.

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Ferguson & McGregor banned for life

Sorry to have two back-to-back posts about sport, but that's just how it happens sometimes.

The Scottish Football Association have banned Rangers pair Allan McGregor and Barry Ferguson from playing for Scotland again after they went on a drinking session at the weekend and subsequently made offensive gestures from the bench during the Scotland-Iceland match on Wednesday.

To be honest, it won't make a huge amount of difference. McGregor has been in decent form for Rangers this season - which is why he started the match in Holland ahead of Craig Gordon - but that was only his fourth cap. Ferguson, the Rangers captain (and indeed, Scotland captain when he can be bothered showing up) has won 45 caps but prior to the Holland match had only played once in Scotland's previous 6 matches.

It also appears that Rangers have suspended both players, fined them and are looking to sell them at the end of the season. A hard-line stance from both club and country.

As a Celtic fan, I've never been a fan of Barry Ferguson - either for club or country - but these latest incidents prove beyond all doubt that the guy is not worthy of a Scotland berth. Arguably Scotland's better performances have come when he has been out injured (though recovering miraculously in time to play for Rangers at the weekend) and I think his playing time may have been limited in the future anyway with the emergence of Scott Brown as a talent at international level.

As for McGregor, he was always going to be back-up to Craig Gordon as Scotland's number one, and he was a great talent to have as a back-up. Now I guess we'll have to be a wee bit wary if Gordon gets injured.

Congrats to both the SFA and Rangers for acting decisively (for perhaps the first time ever in the SFA's case!) and banning these idiots.

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Scotland/ Wales 2016 no more

The 2016 UEFA European Championships will definately not be hosted by Scotland and Wales after the SFA & the FAW decided that, in the current economic climate, a bid to host the Championships was not feasible.

While slightly disappointed, I understand the logic. Hosting an international event such as this is certainly expensive and places a large strain on the transport infrastructure which, if the experience of trying to get to Murrayfield on international rugby days is anything to go by, would undoubtedly require substantial investment to improve. The event would, however, have brought with it a huge boost to the economy - both locally and nationally - with football fans from across Europe piling into Scotland & Wales to support their side. That was weighed against the required spending on the tournament and was found to be not worth the investment.

Oh well, I guess we'll just have to qualify on merit then... I won't hold my breath.

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Open up the cheque-ka-ka book

Must be nice to have no worries about the credit crunch.

£500,000 A WEEK just to kick a football? That's £2 MILLION every month. Minus tax, of course.

And he's not even the best player in the world any more. At least he appears like a nice bloke.

Crazy money. Actually, just crazy.

But here's a thought. Why doesn't Gordon Brown just ask Manchester City to go and spend some of the money in the nearest shopping centre? That way, he might not have to end up bailing out every industry in the country.

ps - not to lower the tone or anything, saying Kaka in Spain might lead to some embarrassment: "caca" is the Spanish word for "poo." True story.

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Quote of the day

SFA Chief executive Gordon Smith on the cost of tickets for the Scotland v Argentina game tonight:

"The highest price is £35... which is for the best seats."

"It's a lot less than the Take That concert tickets and the stadium will be full for that over two nights next year."

Did he just compare the lure of seeing possibly one of the world's greatest footballers manage his country for the first time with four has-been 1990s boy band singers (who, granted, make some excellent music)?

I mean, one is overweight, unfit and forty-something, and can't sing or dance...

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Squaring an egg-shaped circle

What is the difference between this:


and this?
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm very much against the idea of a British football team competing at the London Olympics in 2012. But I am very aware of the claim of hypocrisy which may well be levelled at me when I support the British and Irish Lions as they take the field against World Champions South Africa at rugby union next summer.

So, why do I feel that I am able to support a team which is put together once every four years to compete against some of the best in the world at one sport but not another?

To be honest, I'm not sure. And I don't know how smart it is of me to try to offer an explanation without resorting to some distasteful comments about sport and class. But I'll try.

First up is, I guess, the historical aspect of it. The Lions have toured either Australia, New Zealand or South Africa on a four-yearly basis since the 1950s, with their first test match played as far back as 1888. The Lions tradition is something I've grown up with. I can remember watching Jeremy Guscott (an Englishman my father loathed when playing in a white shirt) slot over a drop goal which won the series against South Africa in 1997. And, I guess, there's a point to be made there about drawing people together from each of the "home" nations (for the purposes of rugby union "Ireland" competes as one entity) and overcoming rivalries - despite knocking seven colours of s*** out of each other during the Five (now Six) Nations each year, the teams united to take on southern hemisphere opposition. Equally, the Lions tour has been a part of the rugby calander for such a long time. It is an established event and presents no risk to the independent rugby unions.

The same thing I do not think can be said of football. There is no historical precedent. Yes, GB has competed at Olympic Games but not since the 1960s. By the time 2012 comes round, that will be nearly 50 years. Also, and this is where I'll try not to play a class card, there is something more of an understanding among rugby fans than football fans. Go to any rugby game (as I will on Saturday, to watch Scotland v South Africa) and you can sit with opposing fans, enjoy the banter and generally get on fine - and no more so than in the pub pre- and post-game. Go to a football match, and you'll be segregated from fans of the opposing time for fear that rioting will break out. It is hard not to suggest that this is related to class, though I guess there's an aspect of the mindset that Scottish Unionist so easily finds on newspaper comments.

So what is my point? Well, I'm certainly not trying to say that rugby fans are better than football fans. What I guess I'm trying to legitimise is my view that it is fine to support a British and Irish side at rugby - but that a football side should not take the field. Of course there are many sides to this argument, but this is mine.

In the meantime, I'll hope Scotland can prove once again that they can do themselves proud in the coming week, competing against South Africa at rugby on Saturday and Argentina at football next Wednesday.

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Chick kicked by MSP

I wasn't going to blog on this, but I thought it too... bizarrely funny not to.

Apparently BBC football analyst, the "unbiased" Chick Young got a bit of a kicking from a Labour MSP at an MSP-journalists football match on Sunday. The story made quite a splash in the papers yesterday.

According to my good friend Scottish Tory Boy, who was on the scene (and fairly close to the action - well, as close as his footballing ability allows...) the incident may have been blown out of proportion somewhat.

However, it does make you wonder slightly. Politicians are often the first to speak out against "brawls" on the field when top-flight sides are involved. And now this.

To be honest, kinda puts the whole Russell Brand-Jonathan Ross hoopla into perspective.

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Boyd quits

Couple of qualifications here in preamble to this post. I didn't see the Scotland game on Saturday. I'm a Celtic fan but I think Kris Boyd is a tremendously talented Ally McCoist-esq striker.

Kris Boyd has followed Lee McCulloch into international retirement. Between them they have a grand total of 30 caps. McCulloch I think is rubbish, and we're better without him. But I'm a little sadder about Boyd's decision. He has scored 7 goals in his 15 appearances for Scotland, and has 54 goals in 82 appearances for Rangers, despite hardly ever getting a start (which, as a Celtic fan I'm pleased about - obviously if he isn't playing then he can't score). But it is his inability to break into the Rangers side that has led George Burley to leave him out.

Burley himself held a rather quick press conference on the topic of Kris Boyd's departure (which gets away from him a little towards the end) in which he explains why he overlooked Boyd for an appearance on Saturday.

He said:

"I only want people who are totally committed... How much do you care? You don't need to like everybody. This is your country.... you've got to show that passion. At the end of the day, I just want committed players, 'cause I'm Scottish through and through and I want them to be totally committed."

Now I might not be convinced by Burley's results as Scotland manager (one win in six) but I'm impressed by the man. He's right. In this day and age, when players who earn thousands of pounds a week don't want to represent their country (because they can't get into their club side) then fine. Go and sulk.

But here's the rub. We're a relatively small nation with limited talent when it comes to football. We need our most skilled players if we are ever going to achieve the Holy Grail of qualifying for a major tournament again (sometime before I start drawing a pension would be nice). Will it hamper our opportunities if players like Boyd don't play? Probably.

But I'd rather have eleven men on the field that want to be there, that want to go and win for Scotland. The Kris Boyds and Lee McCullochs of the game should never even be asked to pull on a Scotland jersey again.

ps - apparently Boyd was to be dropped from the squad anyway.

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Norwegian Wood

Hoping not to see a similar image later on.

I'm heading through to Glenrothes later today. Before anyone gets too concerned that I'm off on the campaign trail, I should point out that I'm off to a wedding - and no, we won't be throwing election-leaflet confetti. You should have seen the look I got when it was "suggested" that if we went early enough we could do some leafletting first!

Anyway, I'm at that age where all my friends/ girlfriend's friends seem to be getting engaged or married (but thankfully not having kids yet!) as this is our third wedding this year - and we already 3 for next year. And no... not one of them is mine.

I'll have to have words with the groom today about organising his wedding on the same day as a World Cup Qualifier though. Mind you, cermony starts at two, kick off is three... I guess if I make that suggestion to someone close to me I might not have to worry about having a similar day in the future!

Have to say, he's probably doing me a favour though. Norway are no mugs, and after our defeat in Macedonia followed by a less than stellar performance against Iceland - a country we're apparently soon to be at war with - I'd say things aren't looking too good for 3 points this afternoon. I better say something positive or I'll be charged with being a pessimist again...

Nah, can't think of anything. Unless we get three points today, we can kiss goodbye to qualifying. And I think we'll have to be pretty good to do that - something we haven't looked like being since a glorious night in Paris.

I better enjoy the wedding.

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