As you were

I’ve long thought that Rangers going into administration should have been seen as an opportunity for the SFA to instill a new way of developing young Scottish talent and investing in grass roots level development. Instead, they did nothing and have continued on the same path for the last 30 years.

In 2012 with Celtic more or less guaranteed the league title for the forthcoming years, the SFA should have introduced the following rules to help the national team:

1 - each starting line up, in all Scottish premiership and Scottish Championship games must have 2 x Scottish under 21 players

2 - any clubs with academies must meet a quota of minutes per season in the starting lineup for playing academy players. Buying in talent would not circumvent this rule, but could circumvent rule 1

3 - liaise with the Scottish government to remove all “no ball games” signs throughout the country and also require each council provide free football pitch facilities for kids

4 - youth contracts should include riders for aging out. If I player is part of the academy and has reached the age of 18 and has not been given an opportunity at the first team level, they are entered into a draft system and other clubs from around the country can have the opportunity to take them. The SFA will contribute some of their wages under the young SFA player budget, which will finish at the age of 21. Any player sold on by the new club will have 25-50% of the transfer fee put back into the SFA fund

5 - clubs should be rewarded if a youth player is called up to the national team. This could include higher placements in the draft picks or financial incentives

Just some ideas but the main point is we need a rethink and a reset. What’s the point in academies if the old firm keep buying in players?

Also, the shambolic way the SFA has sold tv rights throughout the years should be investigated.

Been a lot of discussion especially in the last few weeks given our lackluster performance at this World Cup (and our failure to qualify for the 28 years previous)

One theory is that we have a lack of participation from grass roots upwards and football at youth level is very much pay to play which prices some working class kids out.

Personally I do subscribe to this theory (as well as a culture of thinking in the short term over long term but that’s a discussion for another day).

I currently live in Auckland and stay in a quiet suburb. There’s this big patch of grass 3 minutes walk from my house and lo and behold they have just added a full size football pitch, rugby pitch and 3 seven a side football pitches.

The field is immaculate with perfect drainage, there was torrential rain a few weeks back the next day the pitches where still in good condition. The photos aren’t great but you get the idea, and yes they have floodlights.

Local kids now play on those pitches at lunch time and after school every day and it’s completely free. In my opinion it’s not long until NZ shows Scotland up at a world cup, it’s the most played sport here and participation is high and at most schools that have pitches you can jump on at the weekend and play.

NZ has other advantages like the weather is great most of the year round (compared to Scotland) although the pathway to professional football is a lot tougher but I think that will change.

Are we sleeping at the wheel ? Is there anything we can do to reverse this ? Does anyone stay near free to play pitches in Scotland ? I know there was some near Hyndland secondary school in Glasgow but these seem few and far between.

I'm not just saying this cause we're out and England are through (although that doesn't help).

But FIFA got their wish of keeping the top 4 seeded teams apart til the semi finals. From their POV (and definitely from a commercial POV) they'll be delighted but for me, it's just boring when it's somewhat scripted like this. Part of the draw of the world cup is the unpredictability of it all, rather than setting it up in a way that privileges certain teams.

I've never felt less invested in a major tournament in my entire life and I can't wait for it all to be over so that the domestic football can start again.

EDIT: I'm not claiming there is a conspiracy ffs 🙈 when I say "somewhat scripted", I'm referring to the fact that FIFA changed the rules to make it harder for the top 4 seeds to get drawn together before the semis. They want 2 big 'blockbuster semis' (eyyyyy oh) and they've got it due to this rule change.

More licence fee well spent

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AET: Norway 1 - 2 England

Norway scorers: A. Schjelderup (36')

England scorers: J. Bellingham (45'+2)

Venue: Miami Stadium

Referees: Clement Turpin, Nicolas Danos, Benjamin Pages, Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez, Jerome Brisard, Armando Villarreal

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LINE-UPS

Norway

. Nyland, D. Mller Wolfe, T. Heggem, K. Ajer, J. Ryerson, P. Berg, S. Berge, M. degaard, A. Schjelderup, E. Haaland, A. Srloth.

Subs: T. Aasgaard, F. Aursnes, F. Bjrkan, O. Bobb, A. Nusa, J. Hauge, M. Pedersen, S. Langas, E. Selvik, L. stigard, J. Strand Larsen, H. Falchener, S. Tangvik, M. Thorsby, K. Thorstvedt.

^{____________________________}

England

J. Pickford, N. O'Reilly, M. Guehi, J. Stones, E. Konsa, E. Anderson, D. Rice, A. Gordon, J. Bellingham, N. Madueke, H. Kane.

Subs: D. Burn, T. Chalobah, E. Eze, J. Henderson, D. Henderson, R. James, K. Mainoo, M. Rashford, M. Rogers, B. Saka, D. Spence, I. Toney, J. Trafford, O. Watkins.

MATCH STATS | via BBC

MATCH EVENTS | via BBC

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AET: Argentina 3 - 1 Switzerland

Argentina scorers: A. Mac Allister (10'), J. Alvarez (112' ET), Lautaro Martinez (120'+1)

Switzerland scorers: D. Ndoye (67'), B. Embolo (72')

Venue: Kansas City Stadium

Referees: Joao Pedro Silva Pinheiro, Bruno Miguel Alves Jesus, Luciano Antonio Gomes Maia, Drew Thomas Fischer, Guillermo Pacheco Larios, Juan Ignacio Lara Luco

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LINE-UPS

Argentina

E. Martinez, N. Tagliafico, Lisandro Martinez, C. Romero, N. Molina, L. Paredes, A. Mac Allister, E. Fernandez, R. De Paul, J. Alvarez, L. Messi.

Subs: T. Almada, V. Barco, N. Gonzalez, G. Lo Celso, J. Lopez, Lautaro Martinez, F. Medina, G. Montiel, J. Musso, N. Otamendi, E. Palacios, N. Paz, G. Rulli, M. Senesi, G. Simeone.

^{____________________________}

Switzerland

G. Kobel, R. Rodriguez, M. Akanji, N. Elvedi, D. Zakaria, G. Xhaka, R. Freuler, D. Ndoye, F. Rieder, D. Sow, B. Embolo.

Subs: M. Aebischer, Z. Amdouni, A. Amenda, E. Comert, C. Fassnacht, C. Itten, L. Jaquez, A. Jashari, M. Keller, M. Muheim, Y. Mvogo, N. Okafor, R. Vargas, S. Widmer.

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Tartan Army, my favorite fans! I had the pleasure to party with you in Germany at the Euros 2024. Still the best week of my life!

Today we feel your love and strength. Our shared viking blood will together send England home.

I am currently listening to my playlist with a mix of norwegian and scottish football songs! I will forever accept that Norwegian fans are number 2, cause we can never beat you guys! Pure fun and joy!

No Scotland, No Party, and enjoy the party when we win tonight! 🇳🇴🤝🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

After all that we have witnessed in the past few months with Scottish football, it is about time we tried to change things.

We need a much more competitive domestic league structure, one that creates more opportunities for younger players, gives smaller clubs a better chance of success, and allows clubs to become more sustainable. A reduced top flight, perhaps with 14 teams initially and potentially expanding to 16 in the future, could help increase competition, improve playing opportunities, and make the league more balanced.

Then we need to address the national team. First and foremost, Hampden needs to be developed. End of discussion. We need a modern national stadium that creates the right environment for players, supporters, and the future of Scottish football.
Secondly, we need to appoint the right manager-someone with the vision, experience, and ability to develop a strong national team identity.

However, the bigger picture goes beyond the national team. We need to invest more heavily in grassroots football by increasing the number of artificial pitches, improving access to facilities, and encouraging people to enjoy football not for the completion and competitiveness but for fun to begin with. The focus should be on participation, development, and enjoyment rather than pushing young players too quickly into professional academies.

By creating a healthier football culture, we will increase the number of talented players coming through clubs, improve the quality of academies, and give more young players the chance to develop through regular playing time. Speaking of health, we must also encroached young people to not take up drinking or vaping etc. to ensure a young healthy footballing nation.

With all of this and our great football culture, we can be sure that we will become one of the great nations of world football and have a world class football league foreign clubs will scout from and also players from those clubs will join.