On to the good news. There is some hope for the future, as the Scotland U-21 side went alone at the top of Euro 2011 U-21 qualifying with a 4-0 road win over Azerbaijan today. After 5 matches, that puts the young lads at 4 wins and a loss, and a 2-point lead over Austria for the group. Well done to today’s goalscorers, Scott Arfield, Jamie Murphy (x2) and Rory Loy.

The U-21s are out of qualifying action until March, and have 3 matches remaining including the group’s final game in September, at home to Austria, which might very well decide the group.

Please keep the campaign alive, boys. There is precious little else to cheer about right now for a Scotland fan, and that looks nothing like changing anytime soon.

On, rudely, to the business of the day. Scotland is in action this weekend in a friendly with Wales in Cardiff, but that is not what I came to write about today. On Saturday, Ireland host the French in the first leg of their knockout World Cup qualifier. Winner (over two legs, of course) moves on to the big show in South Africa. For the loser, nothing.

We’ve known for far too long that Scotland wasn’t going to make this World Cup. Even before it was official, we knew it wasn’t going to happen, and so, like in so many recent tournaments, the time came to decide which side to support. Sometimes, like in Euro 2008, there is some argument. (Full disclosure – that tournament, I put my support behind Romania, and was relatively pleased with the result) This time around, at least at this stage, there is no conflict at all – I support Ireland.

On Saturday, the Irish will face a very talented French side, but there are reasons to be hopeful. There is, of course, Raymond Domenech, their bafflingly still-employed manager, who will be keen to wrest the crown of most disappointing manager on Earth back from Maradona. There is France’s underwhelming qualifying campaign, which saw them lose to Austria and somehow avoid beating a diminished Romania in two attempts. There is the fact that Ireland went through qualifying without a single loss, but with, it must be admitted, not a hell of a lot of wins either.

France will be the favorite, especially in Paris, but remember, my Irish friends, remember what Scotland did two years ago. We beat them in Glasgow, and we beat them in Paris. We didn’t qualify, but let’s gloss over that bit for now. It can be done. It’s no kind of safe bet, but I’ll take Trappatoni and Shay Given over Domenech and Hugo Lloris any day of any week.

Good luck to Ireland. I hope very much to see a win, and to see you in South Africa.

At roughly one win a year, and after being the first coach in my lifetime to lose in Oslo, plus the disgrace in Macedonia, you don’t deserve your job. We deserve better, or at least to try something new. That’s what you do when something isn’t working, and this clearly isn’t.

In a way, I wish it wasn’t so close. Though it hurt in a very different way two matches ago, when we were destroyed in Oslo 4-0, I truly believe that there is no loss as painful as one that could have been a win, and it’s damned hard to enjoy a valiant defeat. If we would have been outplayed, outmatched, as I frankly expected us to be, that would be one thing. But we weren’t. We met the third-ranked team in the world, the mighty Oranje, and we played with them. We didn’t let their supremely talented midfield boss us, we didn’t let their ridiculously deep squad of strikers beat us early, the way many expected them to. In what I consider the strongest performance of the George Burley era, we matched up well with one of the best sides in the world.

It may have been the best match of George Burley’s reign, but it will certainly be the last. The SFA has made no secret of the fact that the former Hearts gaffer had exactly one job requirement – qualify for the World Cup. This was no group of death like in Euro 2008. Aside from the Netherlands, we drew Norway, Macedonia and Iceland, teams that Scotland should handle, and that for the most part, we didn’t.

I’m going to hate myself for saying this … in fact I already do. We missed Kris Boyd today. We created chances, and as much as I would have loved to have seen the footwork of James McFadden on display today, he was not what we were most missing. Fads, as much as I love him, is not a pure finisher. We created chance after chance, close in and in many cases with the keeper out of ideal position. What we needed was a poacher, a Pippo, or yes, a Boyd. We needed a player that gets goals when they are handed to him, and Kenny Miller is not that player. He has scored some important goals for his country, and I don’t take that away from him, but he has also missed sitters that still make my eyes hurt to think about. In a system that plays so often with one man up front, that man needs to be accurate, a finisher, and the lack of that is what cost us today’s match.

It’s worth considering for a moment, though, what went right today. Our midfield was strong, our defenders, including all 39 years of Davie Weir, resilient. David Marshall stepped up in goal huge, playing in what was without any doubt the most important match of his life with almost no notice when Craig Gordon failed a late fitness test. Marshall’s quick hands and great positioning were the foundation of our performance today, and he deserves a massive pat on the back. He’s had a rough time in a Scotland shirt, including the 4-0 loss in Norway, but he gained hugely in my book today. Thank you, David.

So, it’s a night for mourning. I will be in South Africa next year, and I am personally devastated that my beloved Scotland will not take the pitch. That will take some time to sink in. Soon will come a time for rebuilding. Burley is gone, no question of that. If a meeting hasn’t been called in Glasgow yet, it will be by the weekend. Who will take us forward, I don’t know. The next major tournament is Euro 2012, which seems right now like a decade away. For now, all we can do is lick our wounds, and resign ourselves to watching from home, as England and perhaps more of the home nations pack their things for South Africa. There will be more glory for Scotland, but not now. Mon the Scots.

For those who haven’t been keeping up with UEFA Group 9, here is the situation. The Netherlands have already long since qualified as runaway group winners, and the Oranje will be in the World Cup. In second place, with one group match remaining, are the Scots, on 10 points. Tied with 7 points each are Macedonia and Norway. Because of their 4-0 win over us and the resulting goal differential, if we lose and Norway beat Macedonia tomorrow, we will certainly give up the second spot and the run to the World Cup will be over for Scotland. If we get at least a point, we will secure 2nd place, but not necessarily a playoff spot, since we could still be the last-placed runner up.

So, as we all were afraid of early on, we go into the last match with Holland needing to take something away. We’ve done it before, and I won’t bother mentioning a certain World Cup goal that still makes Scottish hearts proud, or the fact that James McFadden’s stunning goal against Macedonia has made us start to believe a little again. History doesn’t matter right now. It’s a horrible sports cliche, but today, there is truly no yesterday and no tomorrow. We can take something from this match, but only if we play the best football of the Burley era. We need to both defend and attack better than we’ve done in the last two years.

We are still waiting to see if Craig Gordon will be fit for the match, as he’s still nursing a thigh injury, but the news seems to be getting better. He is clearly our #1 and losing him at this point, coming off of a clean sheet win, would be devastating. I’d put money on him starting between the sticks.

So this is it – the end of the qualifying campaign. We drew a group that we should have done better against, but we go into the last match with a chance of moving on, and I can’t complain too much about that. Like I said, nothing up to this point matters any more, and this is a cup final for us, even if it’s not at all one for the Dutch.

I’d like to thank all the neutrals who will be rooting for Scotland tomorrow – I’ve gotten a lot of slaps on the back and good luck handshakes this week and I know that we’ll have more than Scots wishing us well tomorrow, especially since we’ve always had a good relationship with the Dutch and they’ve already qualified. I’ll be watching in my kit and scarf, as countless Scots and others around the world will. We’re certainly underdogs, but when are we not?

Mon the Scots.

The last time Scotland lost, in any match, by four goals: 18 February 2004, a friendly with Wales in Cardiff. 4-0.

The last time we lost a competitive match this badly: 19 November 2003, a Euro 2004 playoff with the Netherlands. 6-0.

The last time we lost in Norway: 4 June 1963, a 4-3 friendly loss. That’s right – we haven’t lost in Oslo in 46 years. Until today.

There are a lot of excuses being thrown around today, but we deserve none of them. Yes, Gary Caldwell’s second yellow was soft, but it was a foul and a dumb one. That little bit of grab-shirt from Caldwell left us down to ten men just after the half-hour mark, and it was barely a blink of an eye before John Arne Riise put a free kick past almost all of the Scotland wall (excepting the real goal scorer, Scott Brown’s shin). I don’t care how they score it, it was an own goal for Brown, period.

After that, it was only downhill. To be honest, I don’t have the energy to go through the goals. I’m spent. Maybe in a few days, I’ll be more able to analyze this, but for now, all that matters is this: We have gone from second place in qualifying group 9 to third, and if the group ended today, we would not be going any further. We have two matches left, both at home, hosting Macedonia and then Holland. Frankly, the way we’ve been playing, the Dutch third team would be a challenge … and we can’t count on a win over Macedonia, even at home. Considering the group we drew, anything less than second place is a travesty … and as much as I’ve stuck by George Burley, through the bad times and the worse times, if we finish out of the World Cup playoff spot, he has to go. Scotland deserves better.

The stakes couldn’t be much higher. With Netherlands already putting a bow on this group for themselves, we have only the second-place playoff spot to play for, and that’s where we sit today, only ahead of third-place Macedonia by a single goal and a game in hand. Iceland has been eliminated and we can make it a two-horse race against Macedonia with a win over Norway tomorrow.

After a long heat wave, it started raining today, and I do take that as a good omen, but all Scotland fans know the long sad history of Scottish “luck” involving the World Cup. The stars have never lined up for us – any success we’ve ever had has been hard earned, and if we want three vital points from our Norwegian adventure, we’ll have to work for them. I will be taking off work to watch, shirt and scarf on, and I do have hope we can pull it out. But there’s a voice in the back of my head, a voice I don’t want to listen to, reminding me of how many times we’ve left it close, reminding me of the last Norway match, of Iwelumo’s miss … but I also remember Paris, and I know we can beat teams that greatly overshadow Norway.

Let’s put them away early and ruin the Norwegians’ day, week and campaign. Here are the boys that will represent Scotland, for better or worse:

GK: David Marshall;
DF: Alan Hutton, Gary Caldwell, Steven Caldwell, Steven Whittaker;
MF: Scott Brown, Paul Hartley, Darren Fletcher;
FW: James McFadden, Kenny Miller, Ross McCormack

Subs: Langfield, Barr, Berra, Davidson, Maloney, McAllister, G Alexander, Commons, Clarkson, S Fletcher, Naismith.

Scotland beats England in Cup Final.

That is, assuming of course, that we win.

Scotland’s U-17 side has reached the final of this Nordic Cup, to face the younger version of our Auld Enemies the English. They reached this point after beating Finland 4-1 and Iceland 2-1, then drawing with Sweden 0-0. Considering the heavily Scandinavian makeup of our senior World Cup qualifying group, I am choosing to see this as a very, very good omen.

If any of you would like to see the young Scots’ goals to this point, and hear individually from each of the 13 fans in attendance, check out the SFA’s video here – CLICK.

After this horrific week for Scottish sides in Europe, where Motherwell went down 3-0, Aberdeen 5-1 (at home) and Celtic 1-0, it’s good to know that there’s some strength coming up for the future.

Mon the Scots – let’s finish this one, lads.

Apologies for the long wait between posts. I’ll attempt to do a better job as we head into the summer World Cup qualifiers. Mon the Scots.

Netherlands – #3 – 1360 pts
Scotland – #24 – 815 pts
Norway – #46 – 640 pts
Macedonia – #64 – 507 pts
Iceland – #93 – 386 pts

Clearly, the top two in the group are where they belong. The surprise right now is Norway bringing up the rear, but I believe they will get some results in the second half of the group, hopefully not against us. Mon the Scots.