International football took centre stage last night, and we all got to see exactly what type of manager the SFA hired when it hired Alex McLeish.
Not just on the field, where his chosen few were beaten by an Israeli team that hadn’t won for quite some time..
but in how he handled the aftermath of an astonishingly piss poor performance, even though it only ended 2-1 to the hosts.
First of all, he allowed Kieran Tierney to take the blame. One of only two genuinely class players in the line up, along with the Andy Robertson, the youngster was thrown under the bus to join Leigh Griffiths as the manager absolved himself of all responsibility for the shambles.
Incidentally, Scotland, despite having two quality left backs, opted for a system that doesn’t have, er, a left back role.
Which bemused Robertson..
Both of us are out of position,”
“So it’s two positions we need to try and learn. We’ve played there before but we need to learn it in this system. Unfortunately, that will take time.
“Both of us want to play left-back and there isn’t that slot just now.”
It also appears there is no slot for an in form winger. James Forrest was left on the bench, presumably for being a “bit feniany ” although there was room for the likes of Johnny Russell and Kevin MacDonald.
Alan MacGregor kept his place in goal, as he is apparently the in form player, but that reason doesn’t apply to Forrest.
Then there was the post match interview with the bumbling boss… who explained what was going on in his mind during the game.
He was going to bring on McKenna. Again. That should confuse the opposition.
But the real reason for the defeat ?
In 2017, under Gordon Strachan, Scotland had a system, one that meant the team went the year undefeated.
Then McLeish came in….
At this point, rather than coming back to him later in this Diary, I’d like to award him the title of
Knob of the Week
I don’t think he can have any complaints, but he will probably blame Calum MacGregor.
Incidentally, Calum will lose his spot in the team as soon as McLeish finds out he’s not Alan’s brother…
The anti Brendan media spin continues, with Lisbon Lion Willie Wallace somehow being convinced to have a go, over Daniel Arzani, the young Australian on loan from Manchester City who doesn’t seem to be in the managers plans..
“Arzani is a good little player and the manager disappointed me on that one. If I was on the board at Celtic Park, I’d have kicked the manager’s a**e out the door.
“He’s telling me that it’s going to be a while before he plays? Well, why are Celtic paying the wages and not Man City?
“Why would you take him for two years if he isn’t going to play in your team? You’d spend your money in a better way.
“The kid, for me, will finish up a better player than James Forrest. He is quick, takes people on and he reminds me a bit of Jimmy Johnstone.
If you think thats odd, Wallace continued to have a go at Rodgers..over the manager saying that Celtic won’t win the champions league…
“Maybe I am looking at things the way I did when I played at Celtic. We wanted to achieve everything. We were cheeky a***holes from Scotland, not the glamour guys.
“We wanted to win the European Cup – now we have a manager who says we can’t win it. As a Celtic supporter, that’s c**p.
“I know it’s a dream but I want to at least see them try. When the attitude is, ‘We don’t need to win, the gaffer doesn’t expect us to win anyway’ well, that’s not for me.
“Is just being realistic? We were all realistic in 1967. We went down that tunnel in Lisbon and looked at the film stars next to us.
“We could have said, ‘Why are we going out there?’ But if we thought that, we’d have been better off staying in the dressing room.”
Finally, Tom Rogic didn’t escape either. Well, he could have tried but Wallace reckons he wouldn’t have got far…
“Rogic? I have watched him a long time and I’d beat him a race, even today.
“He’s a good enough player but when he is out there and has to look at the big picture? To me, he’s not at the races.”
Whatever prompted that outburst is beyond me, but he’s entitled to his opinion I suppose. Maybe the passing of time has perhaps clouded his judgement a little.
For me, I’ll listen to the words of Scott Brown, which indicate we’re going to be just fine…
“There have been a lot of people trying to put us down but we have a great dressing room and we have a great manager and board and we’re all together no matter what happens.”
Even Daniel Arzani.
There’s been more news on the scandal breaking in Belguim. The police seem to actually arrest people over there…
Belgian authorities charged five people Thursday in relation to a massive financial fraud and match-fixing probe into soccer.
Four were charged with belonging to a criminal organization and corruption, while a fifth person was charged with money laundering. Prosecutors said match-fixing allegations centered on the relegation battle from the top division last season and did not involve a major club.
Because of the size of the scandal, Belgian soccer’s second division decided to scrap this weekend’s games. There are no fixtures in the first division because a series of international matches are slated, with Belgium taking on Switzerland on Friday.
Financial fraud centered on two agents, Mogi Bayat and Dejan Veljkovic, who had contacts with many of the leading clubs, including Anderlecht, Club Brugge and Standard Liege. Accusations center on tax evasion and illegal personal enrichment.
Tax evasion ? Illegal personal enrichment ?
So if one European ( EU ) country has the police involved where this has taken place, shouldn’t another have the same set of rules ?
Though it could be there just aren’t enough coppers in Scotland to arrest everyone who has questions to answer over our own little bit of skullduggery…
The article continues..
Ivan Leko, coach of Belgian champion Club Brugge and a friend of Veljkovic, was released Thursday after spending a night in jail and facing police questioning, according to his lawyer, Walter Van Steenbrugge.
The Belgian football federation announced that the two referees mentioned in the prosecutor’s report on match-fixing were immediately suspended.
The year-long probe centers on suspect financial operations by sports agents on transfers, including tax evasion, money laundering and private corruption. It was only during the probe that investigators said they also found indications of match-fixing during last season’s relegation battle.
Nine Belgian clubs were raided as well as the homes of six club officials, four agents and two referees.
The scandal took the country largely by surprise and immediately put a damper on the upbeat spirit created by Belgium’s third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Belgium defender Vincent Kompany said he was not surprised by the developments because the transfer industry has too long been veiled in secrecy instead of openness.
“The thing I don’t get is that, internationally, it has not yet become totally transparent,” Kompany told VTM network.
The Belgian league, in which none of its World Cup stars play, has over the years become a prime market to dump cheap foreign, often African, talent. Only a few of them make it to the major leagues. Claims of human trafficking over the years have increased.
The investigation shows Belgian soccer is unhealthy, Kompany said.
“If you talk about the soccer sector, you cannot be surprised,” Kompany said. “The link with human trafficking, the drug trade and prostitution, where a lot of money goes around, is very close.”
We’ll watch this story, and we probably won’t be the only ones.
We’ll be the only ones publishing what happens though.
Don’t expect our journalists to highlight it..though it would be nice if one of them could ask the SFA/SPFL to assure us that nothing like this has happened in Scotland, and nothing like this could ever happen again…
Last night we recorded a podcast which explains and clarifies a lot of the issues surrounding Resolution 12, which is going to be back in the public eye over the next few weeks.
We discussed what it is all about, as well as explaining what it is not about.
Have a listen, get yourself up to speed on it.
As the weeks unfold and further events take place, you’ll have a much deeper understanding of the issue.
With your help, it can then be explained to those who still rely on the fourth estate for their information.
This , from Lisbon lion, on twitter brought a wee lump to my throat..
An older man remembering his achievements & they were many. it helps to discuss the past with older relatives, we should all do it.
As, indeed, it will yours… and the message with it is poignant, especially as winter approaches..
Caption competition from yesterday..
Caption “We were bonny young babes when we started out waiting for The Rangers coming”
Today..