Open letter to Martin Bain, excuser of Rangers' serial troublemakers

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 22:59

A LISTENER writes: "Dear Mr Bain, hearing on the BBC's website your instant reaction to the incidents involving your club's followers in Bucharest on Wednesday – during which you emphasised the culpable part played in the disturbance by local stewards – several questions leapt unstoppably into my thoughts.

"Mindful of previous 'involvements' of your fans in Manchester, Pamplona, Villarreal and other locations all the way back to Barcelona, Birmingham and Newcastle 40 years ago, I am moved to wonder: do these stewards follow them around? Have they been doing so for the past four decades, lying in wait just itching to start something that will cause your fans, once again, to fall into disrepute?

"Or are succeeding generations of your travelling supporters afflicted with a congenital disorder that compels them, at semi-regular intervals, to inflict mayhem on stadiums and towns they visit throughout Europe?

"These previous 'adventures', one would have thought, should have been considered before anyone in your position started issuing statements that suggested instant judgements of events of which you, presumably, have no first-hand knowledge.

"It is surely reasonable to infer that the viewing area reserved at the Steaua Stadium for visiting chief executives is not in the paddock occupied by the hoi polloi and that, like manager Walter Smith and his players, you would be indoors during the half-time disturbance.

"You would not, therefore, be an eye-witness to the delinquency, but would be apprised of the happenings by someone else. As a consequence, your media statement so soon after the match would be based on hearsay, never an advisable platform from which someone of your status should launch an official view on such a serious matter.

"One can, of course, appreciate the political imperatives implicit in these episodes and perhaps even understand an urge in you to get your retaliation in first, as it were. This may bring you some kudos among the aberrant fans you are seeking to excuse, but it is unlikely to impress Uefa.

Indeed, the disciplinary committee of the governing body may construe the absence of contrition or condemnation from your statement as an act of defiance. Given your followers' history, it would have been less risky to put up your hands and, in the best legalese, cop a plea."

Driver treading carefully

IN THE matter of highly personalised care and attention from an agent, Andrew Driver could not be better served had he engaged Jerry Maguire or Broadway Danny Rose. In Scott Fisher, the young Hearts forward has a man who even represents his interests in the vexing issue of which country he may represent.

The news that Fisher – as opposed to Driver himself – had held talks with the Scotland manager, George Burley, over the possibility of his client's wearing the dark blue jersey was received in this corner as an example of service above and beyond. That is, above belief and beyond the pale.

The old game is surely slithering towards as yet undiscovered depths of absurdity when an intermediary is require to act on behalf of a player on the question of which flag will command his allegiance.

Driver himself, it should be stressed, deserves credit rather than criticism from a predicament to which he should not have been subjected. Indeed, in avoiding accusations of presumptuousness by admitting that his form has not been impressive enough to warrant selection for any of the four home nations for which he is eligible, the 21-year-old has demonstrated exemplary maturity.

He also seems to have found the entire saga as tedious as fans and readers.

Burley and Fisher, on the other hand, have simply heightened the likelihood of further ridicule. By participating in talks with the player's agent, the national team manager seems once again to have demonstrated a peerless capacity for defacing his own image.

To avoid embarrassment on either side, Burley could surely tell Driver that, if the time comes when he is considered to be playing well enough to merit inclusion in a squad, the manager will call and inform him.

With the conversation remaining private, Driver would have the opportunity to give the matter due deliberation, uncluttered by the media clamour that has recently caused him unmistakable discomfort.

Scotland's age-old habits

EXPANDING on the players included in the Scotland squad to play Wales next week, George Burley touched on a modern tendency that is no less irritating for being so widespread. By describing the Rangers midfielder, Kevin Thomson, as "a young player with potential", the national team manager betrayed a failure to distinguish between potential and lack of fulfilment. Thomson, below, is 25, precisely the average age of the ten outfield players who won the European Cup with Celtic in 1967.

He is three years older than Jimmy Johnstone and Bobby Murdoch, two older than Tommy Gemmell and Bobby Lennox and one older than Jim Craig.

There is a similar perception of Aiden McGeady, who, at 23 and in his sixth year as a first-team squad member, shows few visible signs of improvement, but is viewed as a novice with much to learn.

Ally McCoist, too, seems to be a beneficiary of this inverted ageism, frequently described in the media as a young coach, almost ready to make his way in management. He is 47, an age at which Alex Ferguson had been in management for 15 years, had won ten major trophies with Aberdeen and been appointed manager of Manchester United.

McCoist is also nine years older than Jock Stein was when he won his first Scottish Cup with Dunfermline in 1961 and three years older than the great Celtic manager was when he won the European Cup.

Some of today's "apprentices" are actually closer to greybeards.