Scottish Football

[Clydeside_Sheep]

When I was unpacking after moving recently, I came across an old book I had been given as a kid by an elderly neighbour, a Mr Reid. A very nice and kindly man.

 

Its called "Football Made Easy". (I would take exception to the title as, after reading it, I was still sh*te at football - but I digress.)

 

Its written by a guy, George Young - he played for Rangers, but seems otherwise likable. He also played for the Scottish League XI and was the first man to earn more than 50 Scotland caps. There is a black and white photo of him standing in an old fashioned football strip, holding one of those medicine balls they used to play with. If he played today he would get "sumo" chants, no doubt. He's smiling, but he looks like a tough man.

 

The book was published in 1959, so is 19 years older than my bad self.

 

The Foreword is written by a John Hughes, the contemporary secretary of the Scottish Football Players Union.

 

Here are the two sentences which comprise the opening paragraph of the Foreword:

 

"Coaching is necessary in modern football, despite what many of the critics say. We in Scotland have been living in the past with regard to present-day conceptions of the game."

 

Ignoring the frankly amazing first sentence, my question is: 56 years after this book was published, is Scottish football any further forward than what the second sentence describes?

 

I am not so sure.

 

(For one thing, remember recently the French player at Ibrox saying the diets and lifestyles of Scottish players would never be tolerated in Europe, He went on to give an example of Ian Black eating cakes at half time.)

 

Discuss.

 

 

[LeDandy]

The Rangers are a poor example of Scottish football , They are a brand new club and havent figured out that professional clubs dinna have a piece at half time , they dinna take a pound fae the players to pay the ref / get the strips washed either .

 

Scottish fitba is far more advanced than it was 56 years ago , The Dons players only recently adopted a strict flip flops in the shower policy thanks to that fat prick Hartley , The defence rests .............