Farewell Fergie

BARRY FERGUSON’S decision to quit international football is one that may have some apologists within the media ready to finally write his Scotland obituary. For me, it’s no big loss.

The former Rangers captain has finally decided to called time on his international career and has reportedly informed coach Craig Levein, presumably sitting by his phone in eager anticipation at what Baz was going to do.

Ferguson has given nothing but lip service to Scotland in the last decade or so and the fact that he’s decided to walk away after being given an olive branch by Levein should be treated with the sort of contempt Ferguson showed the national team.

Craig Anderson's certainly not sorry to see Barry Ferguson pull the plug on his international career.

Difficult not to disagree. Ferguson was a player who was rarely as bad for Scotland as his critics made out. But nor did he ever play as well as you suspected he could have.

However well he has been playing for Birmingham City, and I saw some excellent performances last season, there was never a guarantee with Ferguson that he could carry that into an international week.

Like many things with Barry Ferguson I suspect this had a lot to with his state of mind.

His 45 caps from a decade or so of being considered for the team is a fairly mediocre return compared to his career at club level and raises questions over his commitment to the cause.

That statistic, just as much as "Boozegate," means yesterday announcement should come as no surprise.

Leaving aside my thoughts on Barry as an individual I've got to say I welcome the news for the team.

Craig Levein was keen to be able to choose from all his available talents. But at least Ferguson's official retirement means the manager has to move forward.

Scottish football is in a hole. We're looking for a brave new world. Ferguson has just ensured that Craig Levein will need to be that little bit braver in taking us there.

> Stephen Naismith has been touting Kevin Thomson as a ready made Ferguson replacement. With only two caps at the age of 25 and a number of calls offs from the squad, my big fear would be it being a like for like replacement both on and off the field.

Back in blue

If The West Wing is to believed - and the few strands of sanity I cling to would fall from my grasp if it is not - then Friday is "take out the trash day." The day when you bury any controversial stories in a blizzard of releases on the premise that nobody bothers with the news on a Saturday.

I'm sure that it was only coincidence then that Craig Levein chose yesterday to confirm the return of at least three prodigals to the international fold. Not that yesterday would have been an ill timed day to bury bad news what with MP's facing prosecution, England's Brave John Terry getting a curt arrivederci and rugby vying for a spot on the back pages.

Levein, a man of steely eyed focus, has always made it clear that he feels a responsibility to have all his best players at his disposal. Finally sealing the deal with that serial international tease Andrew Driver is proof of that determination.

But it is the potential return of Kris Boyd, Allan McGregor and Barry Ferguson that will raise eyebrows.

There will be those that feel that Boyd shouldn't be given the indulgence of picking the international managers he wants to play for. And will another walkout prove to be as undermining to the Burley regime as it was to George Burley's? If, as Levein has hinted, Lee McCulloch is preparing to make himself available the same questions will be asked.

McGregor is likely to return only as a squad member and even his reprieve might not be enough to ignite an international career that has never really got going in light of Craig Gordon's consistency in Scotland colours.

The return of Captain Barry is the most intriguing prospect. In a week when disgraced international captains have been big news it is interesting to note that player power in football has now evolved to such a stage that simply shafting your manager and a nation's fans is but a blip on the path to forgiveness.

Except that, for all Levein's wooing, Barry is not set for an immediate return. He's got commitment to his clubs you see, so he can't make himself readily available. I think that sound you hear is an olive branch being snapped by an ungrateful wretch.

If he was serious about redemption - although you must question if he accepts any fault - then Ferguson should have said that he's available immediately. If he wants to concentrate on his club career then he should have politely declined the invite from Levein and announced his international retirement.

To stall suggests that Ferguson has lost none of the arrogance that surrounded him and his Ibrox cabal. It was that arrogance that led to his international hiatus in the first place. In that light the reintroduction of his mates Boyd, McGreggor and McCulloch must also be seen as a high risk strategy for a novice international manager.

Craig Levein, as Alan Patullo's excellent Scotsman article showed yesterday, knows his own mind. He has a fixed vision of how he will run Scotland and he won't waver from it. At the moment ensuring the availability of everybody in what is a small talent pool is his paramount concern. Once they're available he doesn't need to name them in the squad or hand them starting places. It might be that only when he discovers how they react to a rebuttal like that will he feel that he can gauge the true measure of them.

In the meantime the slightest potential of a recall will anger entire regiments of the Tartan Army.

My own view is not quite black and white. All the players concerned have shown a disregard for the team and that shouldn't be taken lightly. On the other hand I see no reason to dump a whole heap of criticism on a manager who is fighting only a phoney war until September. Time will tell if these are players he grows to rely on or even pick. If he does find himself relying on them it will be down to their success on the pitch and, I guess, that would bring its own redemption for them.

Yet it still niggles that the country has needed these players before and they failed us. For now we have to put faith in the manager. I only hope he's getting it right.

Andrew Driver

What emotive words of allegiance will Andrew Driver have on the eve of his international debut? Time will tell but can we find some clues in the following?

I have been the only English player in the Scottish league who this story applies to so all the attention has been on me but, at the end of the day, I am English, with no Scottish blood in me. I'm delighted to be here, representing England. The aim was always for me to be here. (June 2009)

Or how about?

No, my mind is made up, I want to play for Scotland (February 2010)

The confusion of youth?

The Chance Of A Second Chance?

It did not take Chick Young long. In his obituary of George Burley's reign as national team boss the great oracle of our game points out that a new manager means a new chance for Kris Boyd, Allan McGregor and Barry Ferguson.

Fair enough. A new broom and new beginnings. No manager taking the job should have his hands tied.

Likewise the new man (if it is indeed it is a man: let's not reduce our options by ruling out half the population without serious consideration) should not be the subject of a press campaign to get anybody included in his squads.

Barry Ferguson is the past and we need to be looking at the future. He could have had a role as the team's elder statesman. But age did not bring maturity. The drinking perhaps should have been an internal issue. When it erupted in public, however, it all but sealed Burley's fate.

Was the captain contrite? No, like a spoilt schoolboy given a national stage he chose to act like a prat and offend the nation. That rightly ended his national career. Full stop.

Allan McGregor was, perhaps, misled by Ferguson. But Allan McGregor is not 10 years old and should have known better than to get involved in prolonged sequence of acting like a bloody idiot. Will any manager feel he can trust him? As my old headmaster so nearly used to say: "Sorry, Allan, but if you fly with the craws then you run the risk getting a bloody great bullet up your arse."

Which leaves Kris. Dear Kris. The Boyd Wonder.

Is the national squad of a country struggling with paltry resources the place for a drama queen? Kris Boyd may think he turned his back on George Burley but in reality he threw a gigantic hissy fit that was as much of a two fingered salute to the Tartan Army as anything Barry and Allan managed.

With the supporters downbeat and apathetic will they be willing to welcome back someone who turned his back on them? Will the players who have been through these lowest of times welcome back the fellow warrior who walked away?

For what he will contribute to the cause is Kris Boyd worth taking a risk on? I'd say the divisive nature of any recall would be a hell of a call for the new manager. If it was me I'd leave him in the cold.

Yes, I know he's a prolific goalscorer. But here's a thing. All I've heard over the weekend is the wonders that Walter Smith managed as Scotland manager. Well Walter shares Burley's view of Boyd's effectiveness in big games.

So the new manager has a choice of ignoring Boyd or picking him for the off chance of a hat trick against San Marino and then a flounce off home when he's not picked against Spain. Mud sticks. It's Boyd's own fault that he's done most of the mud slinging himself.

Naughty boys

Thanks to Scotland's relationship with the demon drink the extra curricular activities that attached themselves to the legend of Walter Smith's first time at Rangers are now looked back on with a certain fondness by some:

Ah, the drinking. What a laugh. Team bonding. The results proved that it worked.

Well, to an extent.

Maybe careers weren't ruined but how many were extended? Ally McCoist can come out unscathed, cheeky chappy image enhanced. Fair enough, but Gazza's excesses were tolerated as well.

His eventual car crash of a life may always have been inevitable but it would seem that Rangers, in common with his other clubs, did little to divert it as long he delivered on the pitch.

We choose to forget too that Rangers did bring some youngsters through at that time but how many stayed on track after exposure to the first team culture?

Yet Smith remains a man with an authoritarian reputation. His recall to Murray Park was partly to put an end to the stories of alleged insurrection and lack of professionalism that dogged the Le Guen era.

Last season all seemed fine. Smith's disciplinarian aura not only licked the team into shape, it also seemed to transform their whole effort in a UEFA Cup campaign that was, in a word, disciplined.

But at the same time persistent stories of Allan McGregor's apparently excessive "exercise" regime when off duty still hinted that some of these players harboured a certain disregard for keeping their heads down.

Then McGregor and club captain Barry Ferguson returned from Amsterdam and went on a bender. Smith made his feelings clear and told them to sit tight. In flicking two fingers at Scotland Ferguson and McGregor showed exactly what they thought of their manager.

Smith took action then and no doubt warned his entire squad over their future conduct.

Which can only lead you to the conclusion that Kyle Lafferty, perpetrator of one of this season's most shameful on-field incidents, has displayed the same callous disregard for Smith as Ferguson and McGregor did before him.

Would anybody be surprised to hear that Walter Smith had specifically told Kirk Broadfoot to eat only scrambled eggs?

Does any of this matter if Rangers win the title on Sunday. No, if we take the precedent of Smith's nine in a row heroics at face value, it doesn't.

But Smith himself will be aware that problems remain. Budgets are strained. The owner wants out and has charged Smith with delivering a profitable commodity. A team of winning idiots is preferable to a team of losing idiots but it remains a team of idiots.

Ferguson and McGregor look like being on the way out. For all his talk over the last week Smith would really be sending a message to those that replace them and those that they leave behind if Lafferty was shown the door as well.

Coincidence?

It looks even worse on video. Who are they making a point to? The media? The manager? The trembling SFA chief? The Tartan Army?

Still, no doubt there's a welcome in the Hampden inner sanctum for both of them.

Gordon Smith backs manager over Rangers' stars (Late April Fool)

The view from the Scotland squad

Gordon Smith on the Cameron House Two:

"He's made a decision; I know exactly why he's done it – he's told me his reasons. I'm going along with that just now.

"After the game's passed, George and I will have an opportunity to sit down and discuss what's happened in the last few days and review the situation and how it's been dealt with."

Smith revealed Burley did not consult him or the SFA board over the matter:

"We weren't involved in the decision at all. It's George's decision how he was going to deal with the situation that's arisen. He has to deal with behaviour and any sanctions that are taken.

"He also picks the team 100 per cent. It's his decision whether the players are away from the squad.

"We have to give him autonomy in that respect. But we'll be reviewing the situation – I've told George that."

Is all our information wrong Gordon? Are you scared that the Rangers fans would turn against you?

Or, speaking before the match, did you think you could sack Mr Burley and all this would be forgotten.

You always back the manager or you say nothing. Simple.

If the BBC interpreted Ferguson and McGregor's gestures and body language correctly tonight then the two of them have shown exactly where they stand. Pretty much in the sewer.

Some of the booing before the game is laid right at Mr Smith's door.

Two men down

Just an hour or so till kick off. And again I'm not really sure what to say. On paper you feel this game should be far easier than people seem to be expecting. Remember we've already gone over there and won - this is the simple bit against a team just beaten by the Faroes.

But how distracting has the preparation been? Seems to be a problem with some Rangers players, a little case of history repeating itself at Ibrox with Smith and McCoist unable to halt a slide back to the unprofessional (although successful) days of Smith's last reign.

If Barry Ferguson was aware of a curfew and willfully ignored it then it really should be time to edge him out of the starting eleven. A captain with that much experience should not let themselves get into this position - he's 31 now so you can't really excuse him for being a bloody idiot. McGregor? What a time we're living in when both Old Firm keepers seem to be pretty much crazy. As I pointed out on Twitter earlier, at least there was no rowing boat involved.

April Fools dealt with, what can we expect tonight. Not more of the same. It's a home game against inferior opposition and it seems likely our formation will be a lot different. I still worry that Fletcher and Miller are unlikely to spark a goals bonaza so it will, as ever, be important that Darren Fletcher and Scott Brown get forward in support.

Hopefully Craig Gordon will be fully prepared despite the strange build up. He won't let us down and should, after tonight and recent events, be installed as Scottish number one again. At the back McManus will be hoping to show that he is now full time captain material - the only question mark is his injury but if he's been declared fit then good luck to him. It's unlikely that Hutton will last 90 minutes but he will offer something that we've been missing.

I don't predict a classic but I think we might end up winning with something - not much, but something - to spare. C'mon boys, don't let me down!

Netherlands 3 - 0 Scotland

Can I say much? Probably not. Another tale of what might have been, lost dreams and happily drunken fans.

Sometimes brave displays and happy drunks are not enough. Were they enough tonight? I honestly don't know.

We started well, much better than expected. We had Holland rattled and De Jong's yellow card was the least they deserved. Arguments could be made that they should have been down to ten men before half time.

I felt they were rattled, turned up for a walkover and weren't sure what to do when it turned out they had a bit of battle.

But when we had the chance to make a statement our hero in waiting failed. Kenny Miller is not an international striker. Through on goal he took one, two, three touches. It would have been four but he was tackled. A striker would have scored. Miller didn't even win a corner.

The goals we lost were poor. Last time we were there we lost six goals. Surely, that in mind, you place a premium on concentration. Apparently not as two free headers kill us.

The referee wasn't great but he blew very early on the goal that never was. Fletcher pulled a shirt - normal jostling - but did we expect a decent performance from a ref we already suspected was dodgy?

The disallowed goal leads to a penalty (stone waller) and we're dead. Game turning decision? No. Had we scored a team so far superior it's painful would have scored more or contained us.

But we knew this was a hiding to nothing. What do we learn?

We should learn that Ross McCormack is now an international footballer. Gary Teale isn't and never was.

Darren Fletcher and Scott Brown deserve more than to be lumped into an all singing midfield trio with Barry Ferguson. The captain has had his day and is entirely peripheral in the team Burley wants to create.

Our defence can take injuries, suspensions and more but concentration needs to be drummed into them.

And Kenny Miller, for all his running, can no longer be considered an international striker.

And, of course, that we always run the risk of losing to teams that are so much better than us. But. But - we had a chance to make an impact tonight. And sadly some of our players let us down.

We were unlikely to beat Holland but let's try and beat other sides before we beat ourselves.

A grim week, a grim weekend?

George Burley is delighted to have Barry Ferguson back. Barry Ferguson believes we can defy the odds and that we'll fight like "rats."

And that seems to be it for the optimism. The number of injuries, the memories of the last trip to Holland have all seemed to simply add to the general sense of malaise that has been a hallmark of the Burley regime.

Some of that has, of course, been caused by the campaign against the manager being run by sections of the media but these tabloid nonsenses have a terrible habit of becoming self prophesising.

Clearly some of the manager's decisions might have been questionable and the campaign got off to the worst possible start. But luck and a dearth of players must be factored in to any analysis of his reign.

For my part I think he has made a mistake playing an inexperienced keeper behind a patched up and inexperienced defence. But then I don't know the form or confidence that Craig Gordon has displayed in training.

So what can we expect? Defend, defend, defend. If that doesn't work? Who knows? At best a defeat with some respect. At worst....well, we've been here before, haven't we?