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New Year, New Gaffer: Welcome, Craig Levein

It wasn’t the easiest year to be a Scotland fan. Then again, for those of us that lived through the disaster that was the Berti Vogts years, it wasn’t the hardest. I had a lot of faith in George Burley coming in, but it just never worked. His tactics were questionable, his team and substitution choices uninspired. I wish him well wherever he ends up, but I’m glad he’s left us. It was time for a change. And now, we finally know who will be replacing him. The 20th manager in Scotland’s team history (for most of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries, there was a selection committee, not an official manager) will be Craig Levein.

Welcome, Craig. You’ve done well at Dundee United, certainly cementing a place in the second tier below the intractable Old Firm, even challenging them at times. You’ve shown a solid commitment to youth football, which Scotland sorely needs, as well as the ability to spot talent where others might miss it. We the Scotland faithful will be behind you as long as you prove you are worthy of the honor you are being given.

Levein has some time to watch his men and build his new team, his first match in charge mostly likely coming on March 3, 2010 at Hampden, as the Czech Republic come for a friendly.

As pleased and hopeful as I am for our new manager, I cannot be anything but disappointed with the hiring process and with the Scottish Football Association in general. First, they only bothered to interview one applicant, which regardless of his quality, shows a lack of commitment to finding the best possible man. Second, the way they dealt with Dundee United Football Club, Levein’s employer, was nothing short of shameful. It showed not only a lack of legal and organizational competence, but a lack of basic respect. The SFA should be the foundation of Scottish football, a strong hub around which the national team can be rebuilt, stronger than it was. Instead, more often than not, it’s a nail in our sides, annoying at the least and at worst deadly to the cause it was founded to advance.

The draw for Euro 2012 is only a few months away, and the World Cup, from which we will be painfully absent, less than six. Let’s make this the last major tournament we miss. It has been eleven, going on twelve, long years since France 1998, and it has to end. Mon the Scots.

More Scotland News

U-21 Euro Qualifying: Azerbaijan 0-4 Scotland

November 14th, 2009 | By: Ian Rose | Comments Comments(0)

Yes, we did have a senior match today, and no, I don’t want to talk about it. The abject failure of the George Burley era of Scotland football continued today with a 3-0 defeat to a quite average Wales side. We were awful. Enough said.
On to the good news. There is some hope for the future, ... [read more]

A Sad Centennial … and Mon the Irish

November 11th, 2009 | By: Ian Rose | Comments Comments(0)

I always hoped that even in my sloth, often going weeks between updates, I would reach the point of 100 posts for Scotland World Cup Blog, and today, that’s right where we are. This is 100, and it feels completely empty. I won’t say much on the death of Robert Enke, because I would simply be repeating what ... [read more]

Burley stays; Mediocrity continues

September 15th, 2009 | By: Ian Rose | Comments Comments(0)

George Burley is staying on as manager of Scotland, ensuring that another year, and possibly another tournament campaign, is wasted. Prove me wrong, George. I was on your side at the beginning, after being impressed with what you did at Hearts, but you made a disbeliever out of me. And out of a lot of Scots. ... [read more]

And we’re done: Scotland 0-1 Netherlands

September 9th, 2009 | By: Ian Rose | Comments Comments(13)

After weeks of crunching the numbers, of trying to figure out who has to win, lose and draw to allow Scotland a chance into World Cup 2010, it’s now official – the Scots are out of qualifying. For those of you not obsessively watching today, we dropped our last qualifier 1-0 to the Dutch today at Hampden.
In a way, ... [read more]

9/9/09 Scotland vs. Netherlands

September 8th, 2009 | By: Ian Rose | Comments Comments(7)

First, sorry for the lack of coverage of the Macedonian win. I was out of town and though I watched the match, I didn’t have a lot to add because frankly, all it did was keep us afloat. All we could have done on Saturday is lose the World Cup, and we didn’t. Wednesday, we have the ... [read more]

Norway 4-0 Scotland … a dark day

Norway v. Scotland: Not Even Close to a Preview

Scotland U17 in Cup final … against England!

FIFA: Team GB will be Team England

Scotland up four places to #24

Young Scots Start with Double Win

Scotland 2-1 Iceland

Netherlands 3-0 Scotland

Another bloody squad post: Holland

Holland v Scotland: The Keeper Situation


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Club Football News

Match Reports : Dunfermline 2 - 4 Celtic

Scottish Cup Fifth Round Dunfermline 2 Graham 21, Kirk (pen) 28 Celtic 4 Kamara 20, Rasmussen 43, Callum Woods (o.g.) 59 Keane (pen) 68 -- Comment: First Division Dunfermline, given a second chance at the Scottish Cup Fifth Round, gave Celtic a small handful of trouble for at least a good 30 minutes. At least the 2-2 ... ...

Feb 8th, 2010 | Read more Read this article...

Injury Update Ahead of Celtic Trip

Hearts are again facing near crisis as three more key players are due to miss time with injury, two of them out for significant periods. Rubén Palazuelos (pictured) is looking at about six weeks of rehab after visiting a specialist in London in regards to the knee injury he suffered ...

Feb 8th, 2010 | Read more Read this article...

Scottish Cup 5th Round Round-up

In todays 5th Round Scottish Cup games, the results pretty much went with the form teams. First Division leaders Dundee advanced to the quarter-finals, though they had to come from behind to beat Ayr United (2-1). Hibernian, currently hard on the heels of Celtic for that Champions League spot won comfortably ...

Feb 6th, 2010 | Read more Read this article...

Dancing on the streets of Raith

So there I was, up the town, being slightly distracted by what’s going on around me as I’m trying to find out by how many goals Aberdeen are leading Raith Rovers. Checking the Sky Sports Score Center for the Aberdeen score on my phone, it was hard getting a signal, ...

Feb 6th, 2010 | Read more Read this article...

Kilmarnock 3-0 Caley Thistle, Out of the Cup

Caley crashed out of the Scottish Cup today with a definitive 3-0 loss to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. There's not a lot to say - We had chances throughout the match, especially in the early stages of the second half, and those chances went begging due to a combination ...

Feb 6th, 2010 | Read more Read this article...

Killie-Caley Sweet 16: Scottish Cup preview

Fresh from claiming an SPL scalp in the last round, Caley returns to face another of our old league-mates this weekend as our pursuit of the Scottish Cup continues. This time, we drew Kilmarnock, and aside from their recent 1-0 win over Celtic, Killie has been on suitably awful ...

Feb 5th, 2010 | Read more Read this article...

Preview: Raith Rovers v Aberdeen

Back in the day when an Aberdeen appearance in a Scottish Cup final was a reasonably regular occurrence, the prospect of playing some lower Division canon-fodder was generally greeted in the same manner that the owner of an abattoir welcomes another delivery of mangy cows and sheep to his premises. ...

Feb 5th, 2010 | Read more Read this article...

A Weekend Off for Hearts

As the Scottish Cup goes through its fifth round fixtures, Hearts will be back at Tynecastle wishing they were playing. But with a big match at Celtic mid-week, there's plenty to prepare for. The Jambos need three points and they will be very hard to come by at Celtic Park. ...

Feb 5th, 2010 | Read more Read this article...
 
 
 
 

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