Letter: Lone striker is a recipe for disaster for Scotland

WITH another poor international football display against the Republic of Ireland, 2011 looks like becoming another disaster year for our wonderful game. Following problems of sectarianism and bigotry in our national league, we face virtual certain elimination from the 2012 European Championship by the end of the year and rock-bottom seeding for the qualifying draw for the next World Cup.

Sadly, the international disappointment has been self inflicted. The tactics of the present manager, Craig Levein, were again exposed significantly by the Irish in Dublin. Commitment to playing one or no strikers has been our undoing. The best form of defence is always attack. Add the playing of a right back at left back, a right winger on the left wing and a left-footed midfielder on the right side and the recipe for disaster was complete in Dublin.

Sadly, it may only be only a matter of time until the "Blazers" of Hampden have to once again seek another manager to take the Scottish national team forward. The fans must hope that any new man will be focused on ditching sole strikers for every match, produce attacking sides, be unblinkered, flexible and willing to quickly change tactics if they do not work. I hope that my forecast for the rest of this year will be wrong but I doubt it. Let us hope that 2012 will be better year for Scottish football in all its facets. We can but hope - yet again.

IAIN J McCONNELL

GIFFORD

EAST LOTHIAN

Rangers' debt still exists, they just don't owe it to bank

I READ your story "Craig Whyte comes out fighting and says 'I've paid off debt'" and wanted to point out one thing that is glaringly incorrect in the story. The headline states that Mr Whyte said he paid off the debt, which is not only not what he said (he said the debt to Lloyds Bank was cleared), but you lead everyone to believe that no debt exists.

Mr Whyte at no point said the debt no longer existed and he has done that on purpose. The debt was purchased from Lloyds Bank and is now owed to Mr Whyte's holding company. Rangers FC are still in debt for the same amount they were on the day that they were purchased.

I am sure a quality news outlet like yourselves will quickly correct this glaring mistake.

JOHN McPHERSON

ARIZONA

Ferguson risks being labelled a bully after media rants

I WAS sad to read of the rantings of Sir Alex Ferguson when asked a perfectly valid question about which Barcelona player Manchester United would like to sign. His retort "that's the stupidest question I've ever heard" was uncalled for. Previously he had wanted a journalist banned who asked a question on Ryan Giggs.As a Dons fan who basked in the glory years of Aberdeen FC under the stewardship of Ferguson, and who saw him transform an ailing Manchester United team into one of the best teams in Europe and, in doing so, quite rightly earning the reputation as arguably the best manager in British footballing history, I think perhaps it is time for Sir Alex to retire with his reputation intact before he becomes tagged as an undignified insufferable bully by the press.

ROBERT T SMITH

BRAESIDE TERRACE

ABERDEEN