Three and in – not just another football blog

“Neil’s keeping a low profile.” murmured Johan Mjallby last Friday to an assorted press pack before Celtic’s – postponed – Scottish Cup tie with Inverness.

Even before the one-sided “Battle Of Parkhead” Lennon had taken to sending his hulking Swedish assistant, or Alan Thompson his affable Geordie first team coach, to conduct media duties.  Why? Most managers would be revelling in their teams relative successes. Especially successes which have seen you out gun your main rivals in the league then dump them out the main domestic cup.

No, Lennon has taken police advice. In the last month he has been woken in the middle of the night by Strathclyde Police three times to be moved to a safe house after credible death threats were received. Numerous internet boards and facebook pages have threads or groups asking for information on his whereabouts so he can be killed or suggesting ways how he can be killed.

Bullets have been posted to him. He is now under 24 hour Police guard.

He probably feels safer sitting in the stand and though that was enforced – he is current serving a 4 match ban which was recently increased to 8 – the police might have instructed him to do this anyway. Lots of wide open spaces on the touchline.

At the recent Old Firm summit, a sickening political photo opportunity masquerading as a purposeful meeting, this was not one of the main agenda items. The Scottish press report but will not condemn the treatment that the Celtic manager is receiving.

Rangers, who the guys issuing these threats are linked with, have been silent also.

The issue is being skirted around because the general feeling that is that Lennon has been passionate, over the top, and mouthy – so basically he deserves this treatment.

In my numerous years watching the game, I have seen Ferguson, Wenger, Muhrinho, Bruce, Pardews and other assorted touchline ranters behave worse than Lennon. I’ve seen them defend their team to the hilt and question perceived injustices. Squaring up to other managers? Aye, tick that box also.

Have they received death threats?

Lennon reveled in his status as hate figure when he was a player. He has done things that he shouldn’t be proud of and I’m sure he isn’t proud of them. His niggling, jack russell round the ankles pest type style of play, added to an unbelievable desire to win was fueled by his perceived image.

He was never a dirty player. He was prone to the odd hot-headed outburst but it’s never been questioned why he was found so despicable that EVERYONE bar the Celtic support in Scotland hated him. The party line was it’s his manner and the way he plays.

Over the years there have been more loathsome men to take to the pitch in Scotland than him. In the last 10 years only three players have been roundly abused in every ground they have visited. Lennon, Aiden McGeady and El Hadji Doiuf. I’ll let you spot the odd one out.

The Old Firm last week got the blame for Scotland’s social problems. Domestic violence, drink abuse and sectarian behaviour was all laid squarely on the doorstep of the clubs. I suppose it’s easier to blame others than take a good look at yourself and ask what can we do to stop this. Firstly let’s start addressing the main issue.

Why does Scotland hate Neil Lennon? There’s a prize for the correct answer.

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The Lord of the Wing can be found at The Celtic Blog.

Happy New Year.

It’s been a long time since I’ve dived into the cesspit that is the SPL but I figured that it was about time all you Premier League devotees got some poverty porn. You need to see how the others live without the excess of Murdoch.

Yesterday, it was agreed – in principal – that a 10 team SPL is the way forward for a league that is dying on its arse. It’s not the best solution but, as usual, money dictates. The dissenters who wanted a 14, 16 or an 18 team league have u-turned when, we can only assume, the figures were presented to them.

Dundee United chairman, Stephen Thompson, who was one of the whining voices (he actually proposed that after 34 games the top four should playoff for the title!) said like the Mother Teresa of the Scottish Game: “This is about doing something for the benefit of ALL the clubs in the country. I’m willing to give up a little bit of money for the greater good of Scottish Football.”

The broad agreement is this. A top league of 10 and a second tier of 12. Earlier season starts, winter breaks and clubs outside the ‘Big 22′ playing in regional leagues. There will also be provision for clubs who can afford it for ‘Colt’ teams to be entered in these regional leagues.

Will it work? Unsure. It’s not really a massive change to the top flight of the game. Teams will still play each other 4 times a season. I was all for a larger top league but in hindsight I don’t think Scotland has a large enough pool of decent players to make a 16 or 18 team SPL workable. The Dutch have an 18 team league but they have better players than us.

Do we have enough decent clubs also to make it workable? A look at Dundee’s flirtations with disaster suggests not.

Would you rather see your club play Celtic or Rangers 4 times a season or get a trip to Queen Of The South instead? The TV companies would rather have f0ur Glasgow and Edinburgh derbies than find space in their schedule for Hibs relegation battle with Dunfermline. The big clubs playing each other f08r times is more attractive to the casual onlooker.

The reconstruction is a victim of circumstance brought on by years on neglect. Switching to a 10/12/Regional set up is only the first step to recovery. Even then unless there is a change in mindset, in-terms of coaching at all levels, and also a full clear out of the organisations that rule our game, it’s all just window dressing.

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The Lord of the Wing can be found at the Celtic blog.

It’s been a few weeks since we last hooked up. The SPHeLL is recovering from referee strikes, a cold snap that has seen some fans having to put on jumpers and more white stuff than Frank McAvennie can handle.

We have seen a whole fixture card wiped out and a part-SPL weekend when some of the early call-offs could have gone ahead. Celtic seemed to have borne the brunt of this as their game against Kilmarnock was called off on Thursday. They blamed police advice for this and the police have taken the hump and suggested it was the club and the SPL who made the decision.

As usual when games start falling foul of the weather and parks become rutted like the surface of the moon the thoughts turn to League reconstruction, winter breaks, dancing girls, lager in stadiums and good steak pies.

Neil Doncaster has come out with his plan to save the Scottish game. It’s aimed solely at those whose self interest and greed see only £ signs. The fans? Stuff them they are only muppets; the main aim is to ensure that the money is good and we keep that Mr Murdoch happy.

The plan is for two leagues of 10 with the rest being regionalised. The leagues will start earlier (to avoid European humiliation, heh!), there’ll be a winter break and play-offs to sort out promotion and relegation.

The problem with the SPL is that you play each other 4 times a season. This gives you 38 games a season after a ludicrous split when 33 games have been completed. Only 3 other leagues in Europe play more than 36 games.

EPL, La Liga and Serie A. Next up is the Bundesliga and Eredivisie with 34. This begs the question why the hell does a small league like the SPHeLL play 38?

Well, the pitiful Sky deal we have at the moment (£13m per season) would be even less if they only had two Celtic v Rangers games to show. The chairmen of the other SPHeLL clubs quite like that 4 times a year the cash cow of the Big Two fills their coffers.

This proposal is designed to keep this status quo plus dangle the carrot of increased prize money and parachute payments to the smaller clubs at the bottom of SPL1 and in SPL2.  It won’t improve the product, which is the major problem.

The proposal is being meet with a lukewarm response. Quite right. It’s about time we realised that we are small country up the Baltic end of Europe.

Play less games, allow clubs to install pitches that won’t look like Moxy from Auf Wiedersehen Pet at the sign of frost, place the emphasis on youth development and reward that development, not the fact that you’ve got a fancy stadium you can’t fill.
Then decide when the winter break will be.

Which will be difficult as it’s winter here from about July.

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The Lord of the Wing can be found shivering through the cold at the Celtic Blog

The straw that broke the camel’s back was Celtic chairman John Reid questioning their honesty. A former Blairite Home Secretary questioning anyone’s honesty is hypocritical. It’s like Katie Price telling young girls not to get their tits out.

So, the Grade One refs in Scotland have decided to call strike action this weekend. It’s not strike action but a withdrawal of service. They cite fear for themselves and their families after an increase in – unreported – abuse. They have no demands like most strikers have. No manifesto of change that they want to see implemented.

Their strike just seems to be in support of their disgraced colleague and boss who have admitted lying to a SPL manager, falsifying a match report, covering up this lie and only coming clean when it was exposed in a paper. That and they don’t like being told that they are not very good at their job.

The SFA and the SPL were caught by surprise. You see the men in the middle have never informed them of ‘unprecedented levels of abuse’ despite them having regular meetings with the refs. True, Willie Collum did receive some abusive phone calls after the Glasgow derby four weeks ago when he gave a penalty he didn’t see.

They weren’t the death threats that have been reported, Collum has admitted that. Also, the mass media reporting that the linesman involved in Tannadice-Gate, Stephen Craven, resigned due to death threats, again, denied by Craven, are wide of the mark after Craven came out and admitted he resigned due to his treatment from Dougie McDonald and Hugh Dallas in the wake of the Tannadice incident.

The SFA are planning on bringing refs from other associations if an agreement is not reached with the spit-the-dummy officials. This has seen an unprecedented level of vitriol and abuse from the press with the word scab being used to stoke the fire of ill-feeling. A word so outdated it was last used when Aberdeen were successful.

Officials from the SFA and assorted rent-a-gubs have been making sinister quips that this whole thing has sectarian undertones and certain clubs should stop this innuendo. Do you think they are talking about ref’s chief Hugh Dallas who seems to be on gardening leave after being caught sending an e-mail concerning the Pope and child abuse? Or that UEFA have again warned Rangers over their fans witty repertoire?

No, I don’t think so.

Instead of being thanked for having the face to stand up to and point out to the SFA the deteriorating refereeing standards since Hugh Dallas took over as boss – see Craig Thomson’s performance last night in the Ajax v Real Madrid game – plus trying to force the SFA to modernise from the current warren of committees, meetings, lack of transparency in their disciplinary procedures – which saw a referee admit he lied, falsified a match report, cover it up but still keep his job -  Celtic are being vilified in a massive smear campaign that deems them sectarian bigots.

Make no mistake Celtic want blood in all this. Dallas and McDonald must be the first to go. If the refs go on strike this weekend then they should all be sacked for bringing the game into disrepute.

Rip it up and start again.

If that doesn’t happen, can we come and play in England?

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The Lord of the Wing can be found at the Celtic Blog

Last week saw the SPL’s bad boys take centre stage. David Goodwillie and Derek Riordan got all the headlines on Monday.

Lets start with Dundee United striker Goodwillie. At 4am last Wednesday morning Goodwillie and three of his United team mates were involved in an incident in Glasgow City Centre. The incident saw one of his team-mates receive hospital treatment after an ‘unprovoked attack’ and one of the attackers receive hospital treatment.

Goodwillie and Riordan were nearly as bad as the photoshopping

Goodwillie was arrested along with the attacker and a United youth player, Those three were charged while Goodwillie was released without charge but the matter is still ‘under investigation’. Not the first time Goodwillie has been in trouble during a night out.

In June 2008 he was fined £250 for an unprovoked attack on a man in a night club then in September 2009 he knocked out a first division rugby player – also in a nightclub – which saw him receive a £200 fine. Add to that being thrown out a trendy Dundee nightspot -  if there is such a thing – for having sex in the toilet then we have a package that can be labelled a character.

He is currently Scotland’s young player of the year and has scored 8 goals in 10 games for Dundee United including 6 in the last 6 games which, I think, could be a record for United. It’s hard not to see the Duncan Ferguson comparison. Both are from Stirling, both played for Carse Thistle Boys Club – like the author of this article but not to any great standard – and then both signed for Dundee United. Will Goodwillie end up at Rangers?

Well, rumours are that with Kenny Miller for the off then Goodwillie is seen as the perfect replacement. He plays on the shoulder of the last man, has pace and would suit Rangers style of play.  The problem is his charge sheet. Some will look at it as a 21 year old being a bampot due to his status. Can this be changed in time? Hibs Derek Riordan suggests that it can’t.

Riordan started the whole young player with a dead ferret hairstyle and an attitude towards nightclub bouncers syndrome. He was prone to the odd mishap in a nightclub, which usually involved bouncers being struck and is banned from every pub and club in Edinburgh.

Like Goodwillie, Riordan has talent. Gordon Strachan thought he could change Riordan but failed because Riordan simply didn’t want to. In the last week Colin Calderwood gave Derek Riordan the captaincy of his beloved Hibs. Riordan spoke of his new found maturity to anyone who would listen.

He showed this in the Edinburgh derby when, with Hibs 2-0 down with two minutes left, he assaulted Hearts player Rudi Skacel getting a straight red card for his troubles.   Riordan and Skacel have previous. 5 years ago Riordan was filmed singing “Rudi Skacel is a f*cking refugee” in an Edinburgh pub with a dozen or so Hibs fans. Hearts manager Jim Jefferies highlighted this after the game.

Riordan is now 27. It may be to late for him and he may regret in later years not screwing the nut and getting out of Edinburgh. Goodwillie is 21 and should be looking at Riordan and seeing a road that he doesn’t want to go down.

Would the goldfish bowl of Glasgow really be his best option?

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The Lord of the Wing can be found at the Celtic Blog and certainly not biffing rugby players in nightclubs.

As Glasgow – ok, Scotland – does what it does best by feasting over the rotten carcass of the first Glasgow derby of the season one thing seems to be missed.

Rangers are unbeaten in all competitions this season. Only Man Utd and Valencia haven’t lost to them and they are on their best run since 1929. A team on the crest of a wave and their superiority over a transitional Celtic side – who have over-achieved domestically this season – their 3-1 victory shouldn’t come as a surprise. The feeling that if you won a Rangers player in a raffle you would hand them back may have to revisited. They are a perfect example of a well drilled team who are more impressive than their individual parts.

Kenny Miller makes the international "I've scored two goals" gesture

So to the controversy. In typical Glesga fashion it’s paranoia on one-side and selective amnesia on the other. Both managers were asked to comment on the referee Wullie Collum (yes, it does sound like a sex toy). Lennon was rightly critical of the referee after he gave a penalty to Rangers after being caught out by an outrageous dive from Kirk Broadfoot.

What made matters worse, for the green half anyway, was that the referee had his back to the incident. TV pictures quite clearly showed this to be the case. At the time of writing the SFA have not backed the referee as they have other things on their mind (more of that later). Rangers boss Smith advised that Celtic should stopped heaping pressure on referees before these games and by constantly questioning decisions and writing to the SFA for answers . This from a manager who in the past has been known to openly question impartiality without censure. As a linesman called Murphy will testify too.

Lennon said of Collum before the game that the referee needed to be strong as he was making his debut in this game. Nothing wrong with that. It wasn’t heaping pressure on the referee but just stating a fact. You could say more pressure was put on the referee by a paper who stated in an article that they found it ironic that a religious education teacher in a Roman Catholic School was being put in charge of this fixture. Only in Scotland would this have been commented on.

We will never know if the decision not to award the penalty, Rangers were 2-1 up at the time, would have had a bearing on the game. The SFA can’t back the referee on this occasion as it’s clear the decision is wrong. It will be interesting what happens to a referee that was one of the rising stars of the Scottish game.

The SFA are under pressure. They would have wanted a quiet Sunday afternoon after the previous weeks events in Dundee when Celtic were awarded a penalty by Dougie McDonald whom then changed his mind – on advise from his linesman, Steven Craven – and awarded a drop ball that he didn’t allow Celtic to contest.

Tv pictures show that it was a dubious penalty and that the Dundee United goalkeeper did touch the ball before taking out Celtic striker Gary Hooper. There could have also been another penalty award just before that challenge when United defender Gary Kenneth pulled back Hooper.  So what’s the fuss over a referee changing his mind and awarding the perceived correct decision? Well, there seems to be some inconsistencies with the explanation of the reversal of the decision.

Afterwards the players said that the referee said that the linesman told him he made a mistake. When the penalty was awarded the linesman took his place behind the goal. No flag and no attempt to call the referee over. The referee went over after the United players sent him there. Lennon stated afterwards he had asked for an explanation, got one and accepted it. He wasn’t happy and Celtic wrote to the SFA for further clarification.

The twist in the tale is this. The linesman has resigned as a professional referee and dependent on what paper you read it’s either because of the personal abuse he has received since the incident – it’s reported today that Wullie Collum has also received death threats since Sunday – or that he is not happy with the reporting of events and feels that he is being hung out to dry by Dougie McDonald and Hugh Dallas (head of the referees), who is trying to protect his top whistler.

This will either see Celtic vilified or bring down a house of cards for the SFA.

Heh, I haven’t even mentioned the singing about killing the Pope and burning down chapels, the Irish famine, about some Boys Of An Old Brigade or throwing seats at rival fans while celebrating goals.

Glasgow. Smiles better.

I’m unsure what the SPL call their fixtures. Is it ‘Match Day 1′, ‘Week 1′ , ‘Round 1′, or ‘Another Week when Celtic and Rangers are both likely to win’?

Celtic and Rangers both made it 6 wins out of 6. At a time when both are at their most vulnerable the fact that they are winning games with relative ease is worrying for the Scottish game. Rangers won at Aberdeen for the first time in 4 years. While coming back from 2 goals down is impressive for any team, what was more impressive was Aberdeen’s ability to look like they weren’t going to win the game even at 2-0.

“We conspired against ourselves”, said Mark McGhee afterwards. Rangers are as threadbare as Huckleberry Finn and have now faced Aberdeen, Hibs and Dundee Utd who they have dispatched with ease. It’s hard not to be impressed.

Celtic are a team in transition. 15 players sold in the summer, 11 signed in what is their second major rebuilding in 12 months. The performances are the mark of a team in transition. They are inconsistant as the new players take time to gel. Add to that a rookie manager who has admitted that he doesn’t know his best side. Ripe for point picking.

Not a chance. Hibs were dispatched with such ease, in a terrible game, that the Celtic support applauded Derek Riordon’s stupendous goal safe in the knowledge that it wouldn’t lead to a collapse and a gift of points to ‘under-pressure’ John Hughes.

The question is now…who will be the first to take points from a supposedly on the wane Big Twa?

Hearts play Rangers next week. They lost 2-0 to Motherwell at the weekend and with Jim Jeffries bemoaning the interference from his chairman, which has seen Hearts re-sign an overweight former cult hero, Rudi Skacel – a player Jeffries didn’t want – over left back Tony Capaldi, a player they could do with as Lee Wallace is out until at least Christmas.

“I tried to solve the problem a couple of weeks ago with you know who but we couldn’t so we’ll have to go with what we have got”, moaned Jeffries after the game as Rudi Skacel walked by resembling a wet bag of cement. Hearts are comedy gold when Vladimir Romanov gets involved.

Celtic face Hamilton. Hamilton drew 2-2 with Kilmarnock after goals from Nigel Hasslbaink – Jimmy Floyd’s cousin – and Flavio Paixo put them two up – but a controversial decision to allow Kilmarnock to re-take a missed penalty for encroachment, both teams had players in the box, saw the game turn.

The winter of much discontent

This prompted a rebuttal from one of Hamilton’s Jedward twins. Jedward have more ability, in fact. The Paixo Twins are like the result of a genetic experiment between pigs excrement and a tiger loaf. “Some people need to show more respect for this club” shouted Flavio afterwards. Hamilton have given away 6 penalties this season. Something to keep an eye on if you’re a betting man, especially with them playing Celtic next.

Dundee United beat St Johnstone 1-0 but the game was overshadowed by referee, Brian Winter’s failure to send off Steven Anderson after two yellow cards. The fourth official and assistant tried to point out his mistake but Winters didn’t issue a red card.

“He cares so much about refereeing that he had to be talked out of walking away from it altogether”,  surmised head of referees chief, Hugh Dallas, a man who has reigned over a steady decline in the ability of the whistlers. Why did we talk a man, who made such a blatant mistake, out of walking away from a job he can’t do correctly? He had the chance to rectify his mistake at the time but didn’t. He is an idiot.

Two goals for Eric Odhiambo – another name for the betting people – saw Inverness send St Mirren bottom of the table. Good point to finish. At the point.

More next week.

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Lord of the Wing can usually be found at The Celtic Blog. If he’s not there try one of Deacon Blue’s legendary parties.

Once again, this seems to be a common theme this season, the state of the Scottish Football nation is being questioned. The picking of the scab came after Rangers ‘parked the bus’ at Old Trafford in their first Champions League outing of the season.

“UEFA are allowing a situation to develop that is wrong. Bigger clubs in smaller countries are being drastically affected by the lack of finance”, Walter Smith said after the game. It’s a point which has credence but a point which is hypocritical coming from him.

The big clubs in the small leagues can’t compete with the financial might of the rich clubs in the big leagues. A look round the first round games proved this. Chelsea and Arsenal strolled to victories while Real Madrid had 40 shots at goal during their game against Ajax. Ajax won the Champions League in 1995. They don’t have a chance now. However, the big clubs in the small leagues will still dominate those leagues  due to the prize money, or turning up money, they get from UEFA.

Laudrup - not as drunk as Gazza

“We don’t feel proud of the fact that we are doing it but there is nothing else left for us”, pleaded Smith failing to see why this doesn’t wash with most.

In the mid-nineties when Smith was in charge at Rangers he could compete with English and European teams in terms of transfer fees and wages. Guys like Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne were signed in a blaze of publicity suggesting that these players would take them to the next level. They even told us that they would have one team for Europe and another for the SPL.

Problem was Smith has always been a pragmatic defensive minded manager. Even with a decent squad, a squad widely regarded as the best in Rangers history, he failed miserably due a failure to loosen his blazer. At Everton his style was loathed by their fans and some call his time in charge the worst period in Everton’s history.

Smith had an out for his tactics last week. He doesn’t have an excuse for his past and I include the UEFA Cup Final run which saw Rangers become, statistically, the worst side to compete a UEFA Cup final by only winning 2 games out of 9. I have no problem with Smith doing what he feels right. Rangers are quite rightly proud of their point. But what does them earning £15m from just turning up in the hope not to get humped in the Champions League mean for the Scottish Game?

Already this season, Celtic and Rangers are 8 points ahead of the teams in third place. Rangers beat Dundee Utd, cup winners and 3rd place finishers last season, 4 -0 at the weekend with United manager Peter Houston bemoaning his sides “very much self inflicted” defeat.

The talk is of two 14 team divisions as the upper tier of Scottish football with the newly formed 3rd division being supplemented with “B” teams from Celtic, Rangers, Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen. The reserve league was scrapped last year as teams, Rangers included, couldn’t afford to fund reserve football.

Any set up has to have an emphasis on young players and allowing clubs to develop young players. The problem is that change, if the turkeys vote for it, will take a generation before the fruits are seen and it will get worse before it gets better. The Scottish game doesn’t do patience.

Hibs manager John Hughes tries to play football the right way but Hibs poor start to the season, 1 – 1 draw with Hamilton on Saturday, has seen him targeted by the boo boys.

“Maybe they think we’re better than we are, maybe that’s the problem”, Hughes commented; quite rightly, as I sauntered down the bookies to put money on him being the next SPL manager to get the sack.

As I said the Scottish game doesn’t do patience.

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Lord of the Wing can usually be found at The Celtic Blog. If he’s not there try Sean Connery’s castle.

Some things never change in the SPL. Celtic and Rangers, unbeaten this season, have opened up a 6 point gap on the teams in third place, the table is taking a familiar look and Jim Jeffries and Mark McGhee are blaming the men in the middle for their teams slumping to defeats. Not just defeats actually, but gubbings.

Hearts lost 3-0 to Celtic and Aberdeen were 3-0 down to Dundee Utd within 10 minutes eventually losing 3-1. Both managers were sent to the stands after chucking fits more commonly seen in primary school playgrounds.

“Our television people told me it was definitely offside but I didn’t need a monitor. I was only a yard away when Daryl Murphy took the pass and he was clearly offside.” shouted Jim, of Celtic’s first goal.

So, Hearts TV said it was offside, once the BBC proved different Jim said: “It was then relayed to me that some pictures showed he was offside but I have seen other footage and it shows he was marginally onside, and I accept that,” he cowered and scowled with the haunted look of a future Scotland manager.

McGhee had just watched his side go 3-0 down when he was sent to the stand for attempting to volley the match ball out the ground.

“The referee’s entitled to send me to the stand for kicking the ball away. It’s been a long time since I was sent to the stand for anything – I think it was at Millwall about 10 or 12 years ago. There was so much going on I got frustrated and I kicked the ball away. Big deal, the referee sent me to the stand and I’m not going to lose sleep over it”, mused the most hated man in Scottish football after the event.

Both managers saw their sides fail in their biggest tests to date. Their attempted deflection tactics failed to convince anyone apart from the most blinkered.

Elsewhere, Kenny Miller continues to astonish on-lookers with what can only be described as a ‘Hot Streak’ after he scored the winner against Hamilton. The cynic wonders if the fact he is in the final year of his contract has anything to do with us seeing his terrible goal celebration every week.

St Johnstone are suffering from 2nd season syndrome. A 2-0 defeat at home to Motherwell means the Saints are winless despite a squad that on paper looks far better than St Mirren’s and Hamiltons.

John Hughes is feeling the pressure at Hibs. His side missed a host of chances to bury Inverness, including a missed penalty from Derek Riordon, and then paid the penalty as Adam Rooney scored for Inverness, from the spot, to earn a 1-1 draw.

Finally, sometimes the SPL sees the arrival of a player that hasn’t just been released by Gray’s Athletic or third choice left back at Oldham. We do get diamonds in the slagheap.

Alexei Eremenko has arrived at Kilmarnock on loan from Meralist Kharkiv and comes hoarding 46 caps for Finland. He gave a MOTM performance and scored a cracking free kick on his debut against St Mirren.

“Alexei is a skilful player. You can see his first touch and his trickery. His awareness, vision and passing ability are fantastic”, commented Mixu Paatelainen after his sides 2-1 win against St Mirren.

In a league where being able to run around a lot is deemed an attribute then Alexei will be a welcome addition.

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Lord of the Wing can usually be found at The Celtic Blog. A local hostelry is your next best bet.

The start of the Euro 2012 qualifying has seen the Scottish nation and media indulge in what is known in the business as ‘wee man syndrome’. A syndrome when the vertically challenged try and act ‘The Big Man’ and forget their place in the grand scheme of things.

Firstly lets get the domestics out the way. I do look forward to Scotland games…. then they begin. Watching the actual games is as fun as waiting in the dentists for root canal treatment. The apathy that comes over me is like a tsunami. By the end of them I don’t care about the result.

I always watch Scotland games in company. It reduces the risk of self-harming.

A draw against Lithuania saw Craig Levein ‘bristling’ at the critics over his tactics. The 0-0 bore draw saw Scotland dominate possession but be as blunt as a butter knife. It’s no surprise that Kenny Miller, the main striker, is on his way to going 1000 minutes without a Scotland goal.

“If they want someone to come in and get the team winning 5-0 in every game, then I am not sure if Jose Mourinho is available” scoffed Levein before the game against Liechtenstein – statically 2nd worst team Scotland have ever faced in a competitive game.

He warned the press not to expect a goal feast against the minnows. He was openly mocked in some media quarters for this. One even went as far to blame Jock Stein for this mindset. Stein when he became Scotland manager said that Scotland had no right to qualify for tournaments and that qualifying was a success in itself for a small nation.

Remember, Stein was appointed after Argentina 78. When the then manager told an already drunk nation that they were going to win the World Cup and he also had a decent squad of players to chose from.

The injury-time winner, so late that it had to be bought a pregnancy kit, against Liechtenstein hasn’t done anything to clam the choppy waters Levein is sailing. Last night one wag and sometime comedian on Radio Scotland was wondering how many millionaires Scotland had on the park compared to the minnows of Liechtenstein.

True, at one point as Liechtenstein subbed a Sandro for a Fabio and then took off a Mario I did wonder if the Italian restaurant in it’s capital, Vaduz, was shut that evening due to lack of waiters, but the point maker is missing the point. The financial worth of the footballer doesn’t measure his ability. The game, especially in Scotland, rewards mediocrity and the majority of these players are lucky to be playing in this age and not looking for a post round when their careers finish.

The ‘wee man syndrome’ forgets that Scotland have not had a decent pool of players to chose from for about 20 years. If we were decent then Davie Weir, at 126 years old, wouldn’t have been welcomed back into the fold and Allan McGregor, Lee McCulloch and Kris Boyd would still be banished to hell.

Those calling for Levein to go have no clue. Levein is the right man and best man for the job. Leveins managerial history is of taking teams that have lost their way and getting them back on track. He makes his teams hard to beat, hard working and seems to have a gift of getting that extra percent from sack cloths.

Did commentators and watchers expect him to do anything else? His pragmatic methods will suit the international game where lack of preparation time and lack of an overall same level of ability in the playing pool means that his simple methods should be soaked up like a sponge by the players.

The problem he has and other Scotland managers have had is that when Scotland are faced with similar sides with similar limitations then we see the kind of ‘two hippos trying to rut in a mud bath type games’ that the opening fixtures have been.

Let’s not kid ourselves. Scotland are just a richer version Lithuania or Liechtenstein.

The game against Liechtenstein was a football soap opera. It was compelling viewing, which is very rare for an international game. At one point you were savouring the thought of man losing his job to ridicule in a way only football fans enjoy and then you’re marveling at the romanticism of a last minute winner that turns a disaster into a group topping performance.

It is as good as it gets or will get.

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Lord of the Wing can usually be found at The Celtic Blog. A local hostelry is your next best bet.