How do we stop the rot in Scottish football?

Published on Saturday 21 November 2009 19:40

IN a Scotland on Sunday investigation, Moira Gordon looks for long-term solutions to lift our national game out of the current slough of despond

'YOU COULD have Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson managing that group of players, but the outcome wouldn't be much different" – Graeme Souness, November 15, 2009.

"We need to examine the problem and fix it. I don't think there is a short-term solution. We need to take a longer view and concentrate on youth." – Steve Archibald, November 15, 2009

George Burley wasn't the only casualty of Scotland's humiliating defeat in Cardiff last weekend. Our game's standing also suffered as the meek capitulation brought into sharp focus the fundamental problems that dog Scottish football. So where are the areas that need to be tackled and how do we stop the rot?

FITNESS: PHYSICAL literacy is the new buzz phrase for a reason. Thanks to parents who opt to drive to school rather than make their children walk or cycle, and an education system which does not recognise PE as a priority, Scottish kids are spending more time in front of televisions or computers than they are exercising. To catch up with other nations and see a larger and greater quality pool of footballers emerge, we have to change our approach. We need to improve general fitness, co-ordination, balance and flexibility. Jim Fleeting, the SFA director of football development, wants more PE in the school curriculum. He says the likes of Edinburgh Council, which has admitted it is not meeting its own miserly target of 1.5 hours of physical activity a week in its schools, let alone the two hours the SNP government pledged to deliver in the 2007 manifesto, "should be strung up and shot". Teachers say there is not enough room in the curriculum. "but for us to say that we can't give kids a decent 1.5 hours of physical activity within a week is just horrendous, absolutely horrendous," says Fleeting. He has lobbied Government ministers ("I couldn't go any higher than the First Minister but although I have met him, I'm still waiting for him to act"), local authorities and head teachers, but is staggered by the lack of response. "It needs to be a national and cultural decision to increase the school day – even by half an hour or, in the likes of the Lothians, doing away with the half day on a Friday. This isn't just about cash, it's about people. I want to see P4 pupils getting an hour of activity every day because they are eight years of age and it's claimed that's the best age, between 8-12, to catch kids, but it should be all the way from P1."

The SFA is involved in a pilot scheme in Clackmananshire where they will take a group of P4 kids to centres two nights a week, on top of the already good provision that they get in schools.

TECHNIQUE: "WHERE Scotland is concerned now, what has to be looked at is how boys are being coached at an early age. Is enough being done with the ball? That is absolutely essential. You simply have to work relentlessly with the ball." – Alex Ferguson, August 2009

This is a fundamental. "Whether you want to be the best footballer, the best pianist best guitarist, best swimmer, best safe breaker or chess player then they say it takes 10,000 hours before you have mastered it," says Fleeting. "Essentially, practice makes perfect. People like (former Brazil coach] Carlos Pereira have come over here and said that for 10 years kids must work on their game 20 hours a week. That includes time in PE, playing games, training with the clubs or kicking a ball about themselves or with their friends."

This year the SFA has addressed the issue of improving technique by revamping an early touches coaching course for the coming year and they have brought in a specialist from Everton to work on technique with a dozen hand-picked coaches. It is also hoped that a switch to summer football will aid the technical development of youngsters, as will the reduction in team size and tweaks to the rules at various age groups to allow players more time on the ball.

FACILITIES: "THE ongoing challenge is to provide the ideal environment for talent to flourish. To produce the best players you need to have the best facilities." – Kenny Dalglish, August 2009.

According to Sportscotland, there are enough facilities. Unfortunately, they are just not very good. Problems include outdoor areas with no floodlights, oversubscribed indoor venues which are too costly for some and school halls which are closed in the evenings and at weekends.

"People say that kids don't play any more," says Fleeting, "well, you know what, give them the facilities and they definitely come and play."

A perfect example is the new Spartans Community Football Academy, in Edinburgh. Instead of building a new ground which would facilitate just Spartans, they have an academy which benefits the entire area, players of all age groups and levels, and allows up to 400 kids each week to play 'street football' in a safe place free of charge at set times and whenever the 3G pitches are vacant.

"As opposed to working in isolation, it's about having a broader positive social impact," says Spartans development manager, Douglas Samuel. "We even see dads coming along to have a kickabout with their sons and that's great."

"We met Gordon Strachan and he told us that when he grew up around here they used to play in the streets," adds club chairman Craig Graham, "but kids can't do that any more so we then tried to create an environment where they could play. The club itself has 650 players and they all benefit from training here on the better surface. The feedback from the coaches is that the elite end of our age groups, ie our top teams at 13 upwards, all developed quicker last season than was the case in the past when they trained on poor grass pitches."

Yet this wasn't a local authority or government driven project. They did invest in the project but the grant gathering was done by Spartans and the research and planning work as well as a percentage of the overall cost was met by the club. Held up as a role model by SPL managers and national coaches who have visited, the hope is that more will spring up across the country.

ATTITUDE: "WE keep producing decent young players but they get to a certain level and then stop progressing," says SFA chief executive Gordon Smith. "They think they have made it and don't work hard enough to push on to the next level so we have to change their mindset. They have to know more work is required and they have to want to keep working at their game. A lot of the ones who think they are elite at 16, that they have already made it and that it will be a natural pathway, they don't realise that somebody who is coming through behind will move beyond them by 18 because the continue to work harder and do the right things.

"One wee guy who was better than me coming through just gave up eventually. I still speak to him and even all this time later he still says 'I wish I'd had your attitude and determination'. At 15 he would go to pubs but I refused to go in, even to have a soft drink, I would wait outside because I was dedicated to making it and didn't want distracted. We have to get that message across. It's a guidance issue and also a fundamental change to the attitudes of most people in this country."

The issue is being tackled in the SFA's Positive Coaching Programme for parents, mentors, coaches and players. But while the SFA can raise awareness, society needs to drive this home.

DIET: NO-ONE can argue with the success of the McDonald's Programme which has been running in primary schools for the past three and a half years. But is a fast food company really the name we want associated with sport? Add to that the alcohol sponsors splashed across the strips of top teams and there seems to be mixed messages. The SFA and SYFA have information on diet and the importance of watching what we eat. But parents have to take more responsibility.

"Unfortunately, the generation that is currently parenting is the one which has come through with the lifestyle of no activity at all," says Fleeting. "They are used to two cars per family, driving everywhere, eating ready-made meals or takeaways and it's a sad, sad indictment of our society that we have allowed it to happen."

FUNDING: ASIDE from the local authorities failing to find enough room in the budgets or school curriculums for PE, the 4m invested by the Scottish Government each year in football is a paltry sum, especially when the positive social impact of sport is proven. Those who argue that it only benefits a small section of society are misguided. Using the Spartans Community Football Academy as an example, the findings of a social impact report showed that for every 1 invested in the project the community had a return of 7.63, in terms of the impact on the health, education and policing budgets, both short-term and long-term. Figures like that give local authorities and government ministers no excuse for shunning sport when it comes to budgets and investment. The time has come for them to take responsibility, to stop using sport as a photo opportunity when things go right and to play their part in minimising future failures.

TELEVISION: THE row over international matches being ring-fenced for terrestrial television channels is a viable one. Kids need role models and something they can aspire to. Not all households have Sky and/or ESPN and we are trying to steer kids away from pubs. The truth is that there is very little Scottish football on terrestrial TV and the only regular highlights show is on at 11.20pm on a school night. But on top of TV coverage, there has to be more work in the communities. Top players should do more school visits while clubs and the SFA should host webpage chats with players about diet, ambitions and tips.