Quintin Jardine's blog

‘If I die tomorrow, I’ll die having been the manager of Hearts and there’s not many people can say that.’

John McGlynn

. . . or would ever want to, John, in the case of the entire population of Leith, and my good friend Fred in Sydney.

Meanwhile, good luck to your boss with the share issue. I’m not a Hearts supporter, but I’d probably shove a tenner in a collection box if I was asked. However I am an investor and I know a dodgy prospectus when I see one. As I understand it fans are being invited to stump up £1.75m, for ten per cent of the shares. This prices at £17.5m a company whose debts, which include significant amounts to the remorseless HMRC, are massively greater than the true value of its assets, and thus is actually worth **** all. Rangers, debt-free, only cost £5.5m, to include Ibrox and the training ground.

Appealing to supporter loyalty is one thing, but selling them worthless pieces of paper for a seven figure sum is quite another. Isn’t it?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20194738

I like Arsene Wenger. He comes across as a passionate but very nice man. But I’ve no idea what game he was watching yesterday.

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.

As I’ve said in an earlier post, I have no idea of the truth in the Lance Armstrong case, but a few things about it seem just a little smelly to me. I am always wary of the zealots at the head of anti-doping agencies around the world, and of their methods.

That’s why a report I’ve just read seems to me worthy of independent investigation. A day after the Armstrong papers were released by the USADA, with its slightly sinister head, Mr Travis Tygart securing world-wide personal media coverage, it has been announced that five of Armstrong’s former team-mates have been given doping bans, reduced to six months each because they gave evidence against him. They will do their time over the winter and will be free to compete next year. If that is not suborning witnesses, then what the hell is?

When a kangaroo court is assembled, the smart play is usually to ignore it, and leave it to jump to its heart’s content. That’s what Armstrong and his legal team have done . . . so far. Let’s see where this finishes

Two Ryder Cup memories say with me this morning.

I watched it in Spain, via the Golf Channel on Canal + (if only we could access that in the UK; much better than Sky). When it was all over and the craziness was in full swing, its camera and mike picked up a private moment between Ollie, the captain and Luke Donald, who was given the massive task of winning the first game against Bubba Watson, a guy who could have been designed to play the long Medinah course, and who delivered. The voices were indistinct until the end, when Luke was heard to say, ‘Thank you for trusting me.’ That’s what team management’s about, boiled down: inspiration through trust.

Then there’s Tiger. He will be crucified in the US press for delivering only half a point out of a possible four, and maybe also for conceding a very missable putt on the last that turned a tie into a European victory. Nobody will suggest that he was badly used and badly served by his captain, in being put out three times with the same player, in a combination that should have been split up after its first loss, and in being put out in the last of the twelve singles matches, which, with USA’s  four point overnight lead, was long odds against being significant. Nobody will suggest that, but it’s true.

To all the people who cheered when our players’ shots found sand or water and when their putts lipped out.

To all the people who laughed when one of our guys babied a chip.

Most of all to the guy who shouted ‘**** you, Seve!’ beside the 16th tee on Saturday afternoon.

To all of you, a thousand thanks, for without your added inspiration, our Ryder Cup team might not have done it.

But they did, and now they are legends, especially the bug-eyed monster that is Ian Poulter, the terrible time-keeper that is Rory McIlroy, the slightly bewildered forty-something that is Paul ‘Chippy’ Lawrie, the emotional wreck that Jose-Maria Olazabal became, and the lad who turned into Martin Kaymer again when it really, really mattered.

Obviously, I don’t know John Terry, but I’ve never cared for his behaviour towards opponents or officials, and I don’t like his public image. I have no idea whether he’s a racist or not, but I’ve seen the Youtube video, and am of the opinion that even if his defence is correct, that he was denying earlier use of those specific words, it shouldn’t be acceptable to shout ‘******* knobhead’ at an fellow professional, so he’s entitled to a few games in the stand for that alone. He is, I read, still considering whether to appeal. If that relates in any way to the fact that it leaves him free to play against Arsenal this weekend, then it adds cynicism to the charges against him.

If he is currently acting on advice, then I believe it to be wrong. If I had his ear I would be saying to him that he needs to put this behind him and try to retain, and even regain, a little respect. I’d be telling him to issue a statement along the lines of, ‘While I continue to deny being a racist, or having any intention to racially abuse my opponent, if that connotation has been put on the words that are evident in the video in the public domain, then I apologise wholeheartedly to him, his family and to everyone else who has been offended. I respect the verdict of the independent commission and will begin my suspension immediately. In addition, I will donate a further sum equivalent to the amount of my fine to anti-racism charities and will campaign actively on their behalf in future.‘

If he does that and means it, the rest of his life could be different. Will he? Let’s wait and see.