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Where Are The John Blackleys Of Today ?

Rebus has worked out why the national team, and the domestic game, is no longer the force it used to be….

 

Where are the John Blackleys, Jackie McGrorys of Today?

I know I said that I wished to take a sabbatical from the Blog for a while. That is still true, but I am a creature of contradictions!

The latest diaries on the effects of one club on the future of Scottish football set me to thinking….something that rarely happens nowadays.
My memories of Scottish football are conditioned by itinerant attempts to find a job. I watched the game avidly in the sixties, a little in the seventies when I moved to take the English coin and then avidly again in the late seventies when I returned to Scotia as a homesick lad with a family.

The eighties are a black hole when I sought a new currency, the Canadian dollar. During the eighties, TV did not dominate soccer and the opportunity to see Scottish matches were very few indeed. I remember stumbling upon, could I believe it, Aberdeen in a mud bath game that they won against Real Madrid to pick up the Cup Winners cup in 1983. Streaming was not even a dream back then!
Ralph’s recent articles have examined the issue of whether there is intimidation going on in the football fan base, the media, and perhaps in Society in general. I do not have anything to add to what has already been said and commented upon but I wish to highlight a sad history. More accurately, I wish to highlight a history that has led to a sad conclusion.
Scotland recently played both Lithuania and Slovakia, generating very poor results. This is, unfortunately, nothing new. When we examine the latest team selections one feature stands out. How many home based players are selected to represent their country? Even more telling, is the question of how many players were selected from home based teams other than Celtic or “rangers”? The last two WC qualifying games show that only two home based players were in the starting lineups…..Paterson from Hearts, and Tierney from Celtic. Neither of these players has many caps for their country, although at least one of them will surely end up a much capped player.
Let’s do a rewind to the Season 1966/67 and look at teams in the Scottish First Division outside Celtic and Rangers. How many of their squads represented their country? It would be a massive task to accurately count all those capped and how many caps they achieved, but we do not need to do that to make a point. Look at the following, perhaps it will bring back some memories for mature readers:
Aberdeen: Clark, Buchan, Munro, Craig, Pedersen(Denmark) and Jimmy Smith were all international class players.
Dundee: Alex Hamilton, Murray, Penman and Jim McLean all represented their country. In fact, Hammy was one of the best FB’s of his era, IMHO.
Dundee United: McAlpine, Berg(Denmark), Persson(Sweden), Dossing(Den) all were capped.
Hearts: Cruickshank, Holt, Ford, Gordon, Jensen(Nor) were all international players.
Hibs: Blackley, Madsen(Den), Cormack, Pat Quinn(great player), Stanton, Cousin, Alan McGraw, Colin Stein ….all international class players. What a team they had.
Kilmarnock: Ferguson(Bobby), McGrory, Bertelsen(Den), Jackie McInally, Tommy MacLean, Dave Sneddon …all capped for their countries. McInally and Sneddon are two of my favourite inside forwards from the Scottish game!
Finally, look at lowly Partick Thistle, the Maryhill Magyars: Packy McParland, Divers(remember him?), Niven, Roxburgh. Again a mid to lower league team had capped players within their ranks.
I am sure I missed a few but the point is obvious. Outside of the big two, many teams had international class players in their teams during this era. It is no surprise that the game was much more competitive then.
Contrast the above with the team compositions in the SPL today. In truth, there is no comparison! What we see is the reality of the decline of Scottish football from the sixties until present day. So, our game has gone backwards in terms of quality, whilst other leagues have progressed, hence our results against teams like Macedonia and Slovakia. There are many reasons why this has happened, not least is having an extremely rich nearby neighbour who filters off the best players. Other factors would include the nature of governance of the game in Scotland. Why have no measures been put in place to help develop the next Denis Law, Jim Baxter, Billy Bremner or Jimmy Johnstone? Does Scotland currently have one player that is in their class? Has it had any players of this class in the last twenty years? We can see the answer to this in the EPL which used to be dominated by a core of Scottish players in each of the successful teams. Where are they now?
Let’s go back into history again to try to find at least a partial answer.
It is generally recognised that the so called Souness Era changed the nature of the Scottish transfer market. Remember Souness was recruited by Rangers as player manager for the period 1986-90. A measure designed to stop the success of such teams as Celtic(of course) but also Aberdeen and Dundee United. Aberdeen had won the league in 1984-5, with Celtic second and DU finishing third, and Rangers were….not amongst them!
During the Souness Era Rangers signed an incredible 40 players…….9 of whom came from other Scottish clubs. 1987 was the peak year of this madness, with the Gers bringing in 13 players in a single year, five of whom were from Scottish clubs. By comparison, Celtic signed 20 players during this era, with a greater emphasis on Scottish players…11 being from other Scottish clubs.

This period represents the beginning of Rangers racking up costs in excess of their revenue. But apart from that, each of the big two were denuding other Scottish clubs of their best players at an average rate of two players per season. Do the arithmetic, that is a total of four players per season being filtered out of the rest of the Scottish clubs. Further, you can be assured that these were the best players available at the time. Here we see the beginning of a process that was to continue with the best players in Scotland drifting towards the big two clubs, reducing competition and ultimately the quality of the league. Competition within the league was also being eroded through Rangers recruiting more expensive players from England because they could offer these players European competition, since English clubs were banned from Europe for a period. During the five years prior to the Souness Era, 1981-85, Rangers signed 17 players of which 9 were from Scottish clubs, i.e 47% of their signings were from OTHER leagues. By the end of the Souness Era, that percent had dropped to 23%. By comparison, Celtic continued to recruit about 55% of their transfers from our leagues over the two five year periods.
So, what does it all mean? The rest of the Scottish clubs, outside of the big two, were hit by a double whammy over the eighties. Firstly, Rangers upped the quality of their recruits by spending big on “foreign”players…a strategy that we now know they could not afford and ultimately led to their demise. Secondly, the best players in our game were being recruited away from the rest of Scottish football by the big two clubs, thus further weakening their ability to compete. Celtic and some of the other clubs initially tried to keep pace with Rangers resulting in increased debt levels, particularly, in the face of falling revenues due to declining attendance. Celtic pulled back from the madness but only by suffering a period of lack of success. The rest of the clubs continued to see declining attendances because of the lack of success which led to higher levels of debt. In some cases, administration was the consequence but for all, relief came in the forgiveness of their debt as documented in a BBC study from 2014 on the banks writing off football clubs debt.
Given the above, is it any wonder that few home based players make it into the national team? What makes the situation even sadder is that the quality of the national team is very poor. In business terms, the Scottish game would be regarded as a sunset industry. It would take an extraordinary visionary to revamp it. Your author does not see any of these around the Scottish game at the moment! The usual strategy for organisations involved in a sunset industry is to get out of it into new markets. I think Celtic already know this, but………………..!

 

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Monti
7 years ago

Good article Rebus,
Celtic signing players from other Scottish clubs isn’t a new thing, Celtic are in a no win situation regarding domestic transfers, on the one hand if we sign foreign players like Amido Balde, Pukki and Boerrigter who were shite, some will say sign players domestically who maybe have a feelng for the club and know the league.
I know Billy McNeill liked to sign players who had an affinity with the club.
On the other side of that particular coin, if we sign the best young Scottish players we are accused of removing the competitiveness of the domestic league?
Tough titty i say to that.
Celtic have ploughed a lot of money back into other Scottish sides, probably keeping those clubs afloat in the process.
£4.5m to Hibs for Scott Brown being a good example.
It’s just business, it’s the way it is.
It affects Celtic too, Liverpool came and took Dalglish, Forster, Wanyama and Virgil are now in the premier league, this will continue to happen.
Personally i feel the vast aounts of money in the game has ruined it, i’m a traditionalist and when it comes to football it’s the shirt that matters most and the pride in wearing it, one day i hope the money drifts away from the game and the local players start to be picked for the first teams.
I enjoyed Aberdeen and Dundee utd in the 80’s excellent sides filled with great players, i would loved to have seen Miller and Mcleish at the back for Celtic, Gordon Strachan another.
Eamonn Bannon at Utd was a pain in the arse to Celtic, Paul Sturrock and Dave Narey would have graced the Hoops.
Get rid of the money in the game and watch the game here flourish!
HH

Rebus67
7 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Monti,

I agree that money has ruined the game. It makes team building by smaller clubs almost impossible. As soon as they have a couple of decent prospects they are recruited by richer clubs. The TV money and the generosity of the banks means that clubs do not need to sustain themselves via the gate. Celtic can have twice the gate of an average EPL club but still cannot compete financially with them because of TV money.

The powers that be need to look at other pro sports for solutions……salary caps, and a different transfer system. Trouble is UEFA and FIFA are absorbed by their own malpractices at the moment. Change will need to come from below.

Rebus

Tam The Tim
7 years ago

I was lucky enough to watch the football back then. Dunfermline Athletic were a great side, built by Jock Stein and when he left his legacy carried on. Same with Hibs. The big man had one of his favourite players, a genius called Willie Hamilton who unfortunately liked the drink too much but one of the best I’ve seen. It’s really sad that we don’t bring on the boys properly these days, too much coaching at a young age as far as I’m concerned. Give them the ball and let them do their thing. It worked back in the mists of time.
HH

Monti
7 years ago
Reply to  Tam The Tim

Tam,
I agree with you, master the ball and you’ll master the game!

Rebus67
7 years ago
Reply to  Tam The Tim

I remember Willie Hamilton. He was appreciated by his fellow professionals.

Rebus

Rebus67
7 years ago
Reply to  Tam The Tim

Tam,

Yes, indeed, I recall that Athletic side. Do you remember the matches against Valencia? I think they lodt 4-0 in Spain, but won 6-2 at home, forcing a third game.

Alex Edwards was just one of a procession of wee wingers thst we developed in those days. Johnstone, Henderson and Cowan were others.

Rebus

Monti
7 years ago

It’s hard to pinpoint where the national side is getting it wrong, but surely a basic is playing your best players at all times and in their natural positions in most if not all cases.
Do the basics well and you won’t go far wrong!

Rebus67
7 years ago
Reply to  Monti

Monti,

To be honest, the performance of the national teams…remember the under 21s etc……is based on more than just the competence of whoever is the manager. We have not produced a world class player for decades…nor have we produced enough international class players for ages. This is why we have imported players with distant connections to Scotland. The question is why have we not produced more Denis Laws, Billy Bremners? There are reasons outwith football….kids have different interests etc….but it is the responsibility of the governing body to adjust to these and maintain the game. Do you see any sign that this is happening? Take a look at the website of our SFA…it is pathetic. More on this later. It symbolises an organisation that is content to sit pat….no innovation.

Given that we have a lack of quality resources at the international level, the tactical system needs to dominate. We need a manager who can develop and implement such a system, plus they need the time to do it.

Rebus

Cortes
7 years ago

The national side fell off a cliff under the mountebanks Roxburgh and Brown whose personal career stats were allowed priority over development of young players. I recall the opprobrium heaped on Vogts and Bonhof for doing the correct thing: giving young players a chance. OK, so some results go against you. Not every player can play at the desired level. You find out. And the next generation of players know that they are going to get the same chance. The games against Lithuania and Slovakia were frustrating as hell but I think Scotland will do better in future.

The remarks about Vogts and Bonhof derive from an interv given by Darren Fletcher a couple of years ago.

As for Brown and Roxburgh, they remind me of the headmaster of a certain Secondary School who denied marginal candidates access to O and H Grade exams so his pass stats were good, and FU to the youngsters in his “care”.

Rebus67
7 years ago
Reply to  Cortes

Cortes,

That sounds like our headmaster….a glory seeker!

I wonder if these folks ever assess their impact at the end of their careers? Probably not.

Rebus

Monti
7 years ago

I agree with the comments about Craig Brown, he liked his stats didn’t he?
He also seemed to like players who were in their thirties before getting capped.

jimmybee
7 years ago

I took my coaching badges under Craig Brown and Andy Roxborough. I remember it well it was held down at Largs,and my mate and I turned up with our kit in the Fine Fare carrier bags,those of a certain age will remenber fine fare before Asda etc came along. They had one look at us and must have thought what the bloody hell are they doing here. Everyone else the Celtic Aberdeen that other mob,we’re all in blazers and ties.
But it was done brilliantly,but to me that was all they were good at. Coaching youth players. Not managers.
Scottish football was at its peak,when everyone else was paying the same wages more or less. The 60s and 70s was the working mans game,games on a Saturday,and your reserves playing midweek. European football midweek Tues or Wed night.
Proper football.
Now it’s business,the game of football here is doomed,as the leaders keep looking over the border with jealous eyes,instead of making our leagues proper places to be a footballer and a football fan.
A major incentive for me is to make the premiership back to 16 full time clubs.
Aberdeen
Celtic
Dundee
Dundee Utd
Falkirk
Dunfermline.
Hearts
Hibs
Inverness
Kilmarnock
Motherwell
Partick Thistle
Ross County
St Johnstone
St Mirren
Serco
Home and away only two meetings per season.
Start the season in March end it in December. Before Xmas not the nonsense of fixtures when no one has money to go.
The Cups to be played when no European matches are due.
So midweek from April to June with cup finals on the First weekend in July.
This would allow the clubs to plan winter tours,and give the fans relief from the worst of the weather.
Sky would buy into it as no football is on in the summer months and we can compete with cricket golf tennis etc,it has no bearing on us football fans.
I think we would attract more sponsorship, more kids to the games, and fans would be in a better position financially.
Reserve football back in, not this pro youth shite.
We need change, but sadly only one club matters and as long as they are looked after fuck everybody else.
The spl has failed as a competition, time for radical change.
HH

jrw
7 years ago

Rebus

A very fine piece – I agree entirely with your sentiments and remember many of the players that you mention. As the late Bob Crampsey once said the Scottish League was so much more competitive in the 1960s/early 70s than it became in the 1990s, which was one reason why Celtic’s nine in a row was so impressive. As Monti says, big money is killing the game and undermining competitiveness – the worst offenders being the English Premier League and UEFA. The latter’s plans for automatic entry for the top four from the top four leagues into the CL group stages shows just how far football has changed (for the worse) since the 1950s and 1960s. That decision is an absolute scandal; it shows that greed and favouring and sustaining the already wealthy trumps sporting integrity, achievement and genuine competitiveness.

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