Sometimes international breaks can be a whole lot of nothing for me.
However, tonight in Baile Átha Cliath the rubber meets the bóthar.
All that that is standing between the boys in green and qualification is an outfit called Denmark.
Oh fekk…
A seriously big ask.
Should we prevail tonight then we would be level on points with the Danes but we would have a superior head to head performance.
So, all to play for then.
Now, in fairness, we did manage a one-all draw at their place back in June.
However, the bruising memory of that 5-1 mauling back in November 14th 2017, in a World Cup play-off remains very raw.
I suppose all we have to do is to keep Christian Eriksen quiet.
Ah, double fekk.
Still, stranger things have happened.
Sadly, I fear that no amount of Dane Geld will neutralise the Spurs playmaker.
Of course, when the band strike up Amhrán na bhFiann any grasp of reason will depart me.
It always does.
In that, I will be no different to anyone here or across the global Gaeltacht.
I know that the Big Fella in Seoul will be kicking every ball.
Being from Ireland and leaving Ireland to return is a central theme in the story of this little island.
On the other side of the planet, he rediscovered his love for the Gah and had your Humble Correspondent source and send a seriously large tricolour to South Korea!
Unlike his oul Da, my Donegal lad didn’t grow up in a country that still has to finally deal with a shameful history of anti-Irish racism.
That is still a work in progress.
Publicly denigrating the Irish and Irishness is still far too acceptable in modern Scotland than it should be.
It is a stain on a country that claims to be based on good values.
On the football field, Fair Caledonia are blessed with a very fine weapon in their armoury.
Ryan Christie is now showing on the international stage what he can bring to the party for club and country.
When the ball connects with his left boot the former is transformed into a precision-guided munition.
His first goal for his country is unlikely to be his last.
The young Scot is increasingly demonstrating that he can combine the guile of Tom Rogic with the merciless energy of a young Scott Brown.
Looking over the hedge and knowing the Celtic players in the international squad it appears to me that Scotland are currently underperforming.
What we in Ireland would give for a James Forrest on the wing or a Calum McGregor in midfield.
International teams are at the mercy of what a particular generation will yield up.
Mick McCarthy and Steve Clarke cannot go out and sign players.
Of course, there was a time when Scotland produced world-class players in ridiculous quantities.
In the 1960s Alba could have been the Uruguay of the North Atlantic.
Three names to conjure with from that golden era:
Baxter, Bremner and Law…
Peerless and unplayable.
Indeed, in that decade, in one day in May 1967, eleven home-grown Scots battered and bemused the core of the Italian national team.
Celtic’s opponents were resplendent in the colours of Internazionale Milano.
When Kurt Tschenscher sounded the end of hostilities at Stadio Nacional it was clear that Helenio Herrera’s men had already run up the white flag.
It was a historic victory on every level.
However, being lauded as lions and kings of Europe didn’t bring many Scotland caps for Jock Stein’s men.
If you know your history then this should not come as a surprise.
Only 15 years earlier the chaps at the SFA appeared to have a problem with public displays of Celtic’s Irish roots.
Dear reader, that problem has a name:
Racism.
Thankfully these are changed days now.
Consequently, playing for the Hoops is no impediment to an international career in the dark blue of Scotland.
Indeed, they’ve even had a captain called Kieran.
Changed days indeed.
It would be tough karma if Scotland had a single shot at immortality and blew it through bigotry in the 1960s.
Hungary had a team that dazzled in the early 1950s and in many ways they re-defined the game.
Since then, they have offered little.
I hope that isn’t the case for Scotland and the dark blue of Alba will be seen at a major tournament soon.
Now, come on Ireland!
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Phil, any chance you can stop posting photos of that wee Hun Ms. Black. It’s fair putting me aff me dinner, so it is. Hail Hail
Every Scottish footy fan SHOULD support the national team, IMO.
But, it seems like many are turning away in droves – and not just because of the inabilities of the team.
Many – like myself – have simply given up because of the inept SFA organisation.
And that’s not right.
Stevie Clarke, Alex McLeish, Berti Vogts, et al didn’t significantly diminish interest in the Scotland team.
That blame sits squarely with the self serving, blazered buffoons of the SFA.
Nothing will change until the SFA is changed.
[I do hope ROI and Wales qualify though… and we’re not subjected to overbearing “Engerlund: football’s coming home” coverage! 😦 ]
Dear Dr Phil,
I feel conflicted when the International jamboree comes around.
Am I an Irish Scot or and Scots Irish?
After getting some rather interesting news about my own genealogy earlier on in the year this question became even more confusing!
Our Clan by way of default was OUSTED from their Scottish homeland after the first Wars of Independence you see as they quite unwittingly were on the losing side of one of history’s age old arguments?
Who should inherit the Throne.
As a result of losing that rather heated debate and being of Gallowglass stock (a mix of Gael and Norse) a Warrior Clan and also Mercenaries they found themselves at a rather important juncture in the History of Ireland.
As a result of both these junctures in History the entire Clan headed to Ireland at the behest of Irish Royalty to fight against the Normans who themselves as we know were of Norse blood.
So for 800 years or so our Clan ,lived ,fought and died for the Irish and as a result became like the other Gallowglass Clans assimilated and part of the fabric of Ireland.
History yet again would intervene later this story in the shape and form of great hunger.
Having survived and stayed put an Gorta Mór they finally yielded at the onset of an Gorta Beag and headed back to now unfamiliar shores.
These same shores where they had left unwanted and persecuted they now returned unwanted and subsequently persecuted.
So as you can see my dilemma although not uncommon in these pages of historical context that you provide leaves me in a bit of a pickle.
What does one do in these circumstances without upsetting my Sparth Axe wielding forefathers?
Fuck it come on Scotland,Ireland,Norway,Denmark and Sweden Gallowglass ya bass.
If only Dál Riata had a fitba team?
Conflicted in England.
Excellent post
History teaches us that attain true victory you must have first and foremost good leadership.
You also need the right men to see the job through deploying the right tactics in order to achieve that aim.
I fear Scotland will never again grace an International tournament the way things currently stand.
You see you can can have all the Lions you want but if they are being led by donkeys it will ultimately end in disaster.
And so it continues…
A part of me wishes that Scotland wouldn’t call up oor players. I guess thats just me being selfish but we wouldn’t have to worry about another career ending injury or having oor bhoys over worked
Aye. And even MORE GAMES for several of our major players.
Remember also that, one day in April 1967, eleven home-grown Scots Baxtered the living daylights out of the then World Champions on their own pitch..
A truly wonderful player. But here’s a wee question I’m going to throw out there to any reader of any persuasion old enough to remember those halcyon days. Would he have got into the Lions side? If so who would he have replaced?