As if Saturday's 0-0 draw against Norway hadn't done enough to make it a miserable weekend for George Burley, Kris Boyd's graceless announcement that he won't put himself forward for another squad while the current manager is in charge has added to his woes.
Boyd has never been a critical member of the Scotland team. Previous managers have shared Burley's concerns about his work rate and general contribution to the team. But sport is often about moments, and you know - just know - that he would have buried the chance that Chris Iwelumo scaffed horribly wide with the goal begging. Instead, Boyd was left on the bench while the Wolves striker came on to make a debut that nightmares are made of.
Burley's a strong character and will shrug this latest bit of bad news off. But he's now under even more pressure than before.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Aberdeen hit the floor
So far this season, Aberdeen have performed as well as banking stocks. The most recent shock - a 2-1 home defeat to Hibs - sent them tumbling to the foot of the SPL. It's still early days, of course, and everyone expects them to recover sooner or later. But, as with Spurs in England, it's never too early in football for the word "crisis" to be dusted off again. We just love it.
How bad things get depends on how Aberdeen respond, of course, and the reaction from the weekend suggests that the current set up at Pittodrie still has it within themselves to pull away from the foot of the table. They were certainly unlucky to lose, with Hibs needing a hugely debatable goal to take the points.
But plenty of the fans aren't happy. There's no love lost between Jimmy Calderwood and a sizeable section of the support, sick with the "tactical tombola" and what's perceived as his moaning ways. Not to mention his tango tan, of course. We love fitba's got a lot of time for Calderwood to be honest - he did fine things at Dunfermline and has broadly done a good job at Aberdeen - but his undisguised ambition can, at times, come across as arrogance.
Mostly though, Calderwood seems to get the blame for the "sleeping giant" status of Aberdeen football club. They fans may claim they've stopped going on about the 1980s, but the club's achievements will be measured against the Alex Ferguson era for a while yet. Nowadays, Aberdeen are heavily in debt, and wondering whether or not to move out of their half-full stadium. Given the current state of the economy, this stasis will probably remain for a while yet.
It's a great shame, because if this one-city club re-established itself as a credible force, Scottish football would be much richer for it.
How bad things get depends on how Aberdeen respond, of course, and the reaction from the weekend suggests that the current set up at Pittodrie still has it within themselves to pull away from the foot of the table. They were certainly unlucky to lose, with Hibs needing a hugely debatable goal to take the points.
But plenty of the fans aren't happy. There's no love lost between Jimmy Calderwood and a sizeable section of the support, sick with the "tactical tombola" and what's perceived as his moaning ways. Not to mention his tango tan, of course. We love fitba's got a lot of time for Calderwood to be honest - he did fine things at Dunfermline and has broadly done a good job at Aberdeen - but his undisguised ambition can, at times, come across as arrogance.
Mostly though, Calderwood seems to get the blame for the "sleeping giant" status of Aberdeen football club. They fans may claim they've stopped going on about the 1980s, but the club's achievements will be measured against the Alex Ferguson era for a while yet. Nowadays, Aberdeen are heavily in debt, and wondering whether or not to move out of their half-full stadium. Given the current state of the economy, this stasis will probably remain for a while yet.
It's a great shame, because if this one-city club re-established itself as a credible force, Scottish football would be much richer for it.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Schadenfreude across Scotland as Celtic come home empty handed again
It's been nearly 4 years since Celtic picked up a point away from home in the Champions League (a draw against Barcelona in November 2004), and they'll have a wait still longer after the 1-0 defeat to Villareal on Tuesday night.
It's fair to say that the reaction across Scotland has been less than sympathetic. Of course the Huns are even more envious of their sister's success this season after being dumped out of Europe at the first hurdle.
For the rest of the SPL, angry at what they see as continued bias towards the Old Firm who always seem to get the decisions during matches, there was amusement to be had that Celtic were undone by a free kick that was very softly awarded to their opponents. Certain Celtic players - stand up Aiden McGeady and Shunsuke Nakamura, please stand up - are hardly shy about going to ground under the lightest of challenges.
Villareal were better overall, but Celtic played a decently, if not lethally. It may, however, already be too late to salvage this Champions League campaign.
It's fair to say that the reaction across Scotland has been less than sympathetic. Of course the Huns are even more envious of their sister's success this season after being dumped out of Europe at the first hurdle.
For the rest of the SPL, angry at what they see as continued bias towards the Old Firm who always seem to get the decisions during matches, there was amusement to be had that Celtic were undone by a free kick that was very softly awarded to their opponents. Certain Celtic players - stand up Aiden McGeady and Shunsuke Nakamura, please stand up - are hardly shy about going to ground under the lightest of challenges.
Villareal were better overall, but Celtic played a decently, if not lethally. It may, however, already be too late to salvage this Champions League campaign.
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