Stuart Bathgate: Scotland fans need a dream to hang on to

Published on Sunday 5 September 2010 16:49

READING the late John Rafferty's match report from 1965 in Saturday's Scotsman was at once inspiring and depressing. Inspiring, because it was about a major match - Scotland 1 Italy 0 in a World Cup qualifier - in which our national side got the better of more highly-rated opponents.

And depressing, because it contrasted so starkly with the miserable fare that was on offer from the current Scotland team the previous evening in Lithuania.

The result in itself was not the prime source of inspiration - in the event it counted for nothing, as Scotland lost the later fixture in Italy and failed to make the 1966 finals. But the manner in which it was achieved remains an important lesson, almost half a century on, about the heights to which our national game once rose.

You can see the goal itself by searching YouTube for the result, but John Greig's actual strike from the edge of the box is not as memorable as two other aspects of it. These are first, the fact that it was scored in the 89th minute; and second, that it was created by the interplay of Jim Baxter, a debutant called Billy Bremner, and Greig himself.

Those were the days when Scotland not only battled, but also played creatively, to the end of games. Even against the most intimidating of defences; even when it might have been tempting to settle for a point. When extragavantly gifted players such as Baxter believed they were the equal of anyone from a bigger, more successful nation, and when they invited us to share their dream of becoming the best in the world.

In other words it was the spirit behind the result, rather than the scoreline itself, which still inspires. And which offers an alternative to the crabbed, limited, unimaginative game played by the national side today.

This is not, it should be quickly added, a call for the current squad to abandon their misguided ways and attempt a return to the piratical swagger of Baxter and his colleagues. With the partial exception of James McFadden - of whom, in any case, we probably continue to expect too much - they would just make fools of themselves if they attempted any such romantic style of play.

Nor is it primarily a criticism of Craig Levein. The current national manager made his reputation at club level by getting men of modest ability to play beyond themselves. He knows his strengths and those of his squad, and deserves the time to forge something positive out of what he has inherited.

But Levein was a central defender, and defensive organisation probably remains his principal strength.That virtue produced some of his most impressive results in the club game, such as Hearts' 1-0 Uefa Cup victory in Bordeaux, achieved with something approximating to a 6-4-0 formation.

But it could only go so far towards disguising the inherent weaknesses of his teams. It should not be forgotten, for example, that Hearts lost the return game 2-0 to go out of the competition on aggregate.

In other words, defensive organisation only takes you so far. Even allowing for the modest abilities of our current crop of players, Levein will have to do something more than making Scotland hard to beat if he is to be judged a success in his post.

It may be unfair to demand that of the current manager, because there was a time under several of his predecessors when we were deeply thankful that Scotland had become hard to beat, as it meant we were no longer a laughing stock. But, after two decades and more in which minor, incremental improvement has been the best we have had to celebrate, it is surely time for us to become just a little bit more ambitious, and a little bit less risk-averse.

Being against minor opponents with a minimal travelling support, tomorrow night's match with Liechtenstein should be the ideal occasion for parents to take their six-year-old along to Hampden to witness their first Scotland game. But what six-year-old in his or her right mind would want to go? What is there to inspire them?

We need to offer a new generation new reasons to get behind the national team. We need to be able to dream again, rather than sitting through the banal nightmare of another qualifying campaign which ends with few goals conceded, few goals scored, and little or nothing ventured or gained.