Quintin Jardine's blog

I know it’s a form of blasphemy to criticise Sir Alex Ferguson, but it seems to me he fell short of his usual level of football statesmanship when he attacked one of his own players on telly last night. Rio Ferdinand is 33 years old, a respected figure in the game and beyond. For all that he’s had a lapse or two, he is also England’s most distinguished black player of his generation. Through no fault of his own, he was thrust into a most unpleasant situation between his brother and an England colleague. If he now feels resentment that the incident was allowed by the FA to drag on for a year without resolution, that’s understandable, and he was surely entitled to demonstrate it. He chose to do so by not displaying his support for an FA funded organisation that he feels has been asleep at the wheel. Any reasonable man would understand that, surely. Unfortunately SAF is not a reasonable man.

Every professional is entitled to a degree of respect and understanding from his manager, but Rio’s had the opposite from his. When he declared on Friday that all his players would be wearing the ‘Kick it out’ shirts, Sir Alex must have known how he felt, and that he was ordering him to go against his principles. By announcing that he would be ‘dealt with’, after he stood up for them, he’s putting his own reputation and standing at risk. I saw Sir Alex play; usually it wasn’t pretty, and he’s taken few prisoners during his coaching career either. That hasn’t stopped him becoming the greatest club manager in British football history, but this incident, it’s different. He created a rod for his own back by his statement on Friday. Now he’s felt its weight, and his reaction is petulant, arrogant and wrong.

What’s he going to do next? Will he and Gary Neville insist that the entire Man U squad vote Labour at the next election?

When I was a lad I did a bit of football reporting for the local paper on which I worked. There were some characters around then, the likes of Bob ‘Rex’ Kingsley, Gair ‘Budgie’ Henderson, Jim ‘Scoop’ Rodger, James ‘Solly’ Sanderson, Malky Munro, whose nickname rhymed with his forename, George ‘Corky’ Young, and even for a time Willie ‘Deedle’ Waddell, who went from the Daily Express into the Rangers manager’s office. Most of these guys didn’t know a lot of big words, but they did know their football, and they were realists.

Today’s generation seems to be different. They’re too dull to have nicknames and they do seem to know lots of big words, (although not always how to use them) but **** all else. Currently they have decided collectively that Craig Levein, the beleaguered Scotland national coach, team manager, call him what you will, must be sacked. This is on the basis of a lousy result in sweltering summer conditions in  the US, a game that should never have been played, two home draws against very competent sides, one of whom went on to hump Wales 6 — 1 a few days later, and a defeat by our island neighbours on Friday which was entirely down to the linesman who disregarded the laws of geometry (if geometry has laws) in chalking off a perfectly good second Scotland goal, and a referee who must be a big ballet fan, since he gave Gareth Bale top marks for a Swan Lake dive late in the day, as Wales faced defeat. He also gave him a penalty kick which turned the game. Hardly Craig’s fault, either of those decisions, but their consequence was that his side were robbed of a good away win.

The jackals of the Scottish football press have decided that this is unacceptable. They disregard the fact that for the last year the manager has been without his inspirational captain, that another top midfielder has a chronic injury that is limiting his availability, and that our best striker has been in the huff. They overlook the sad truth that at this time we do not have a back four capable of keeping hens out of a dustbin, far less holding off international class forwards. They report, then deride, the fact that the players are behind the coach. They want his head, and they are determined to have it.

But there’s one relevant question that is not being asked. If not Craig, then who? Who is available, of those, who would be better, and who in his right mind would want the job? The list of candidates is not extensive. Owen Coyle’s name is mentioned, but he is actually Irish by football nationality and is much more likely to wind up in charge of the Republic. Graeme Souness says he is finished with management. Gordon Strachan does not inspire and also seems very comfortable in the media. The likes of Mark McGhee and Steve Kean have one thing alone going for them, their nationality, and God preserve us from such foolish choices. Stuart McCall is doing an excellent job at Motherwell, but he doesn’t seem the type who would cope with seeing his players six times a year as opposed to every week.

The fact is there is only one logical choice for the Scotland hot seat, and that is the man who is currently being pilloried. It’s being said now that defeat in Belgium tomorrow night will be the final nail in his coffin. If that becomes the case, then the people running Scottish football will have been proven as blinkered and moronic as the people writing about it. There are only two sides in Europe, Spain and Germany, who might be backed to win in Belgium, and even they would be happy to come away with a draw.

The Tartan Army may not be happy with recent results, but they are realists. They know that while we are not good enough at this moment to come through a very tough World Cup qualifying group, we do have some very good young players on the way up. If the present coach is allowed to see out his contract, there is every chance that he will build a side worthy of the jerseys. If the clattering classes have their way, as I fear they will, they’ll get what they deserve.