Fearing the worst

Nov 19 2008 by Kevin Drinkell,

AT this busy period in football when we are inundated with so many domestic fixtures in our league and cup competitions as well as the better teams also being involved in Europe, I just can’t understand why they are sticking an international friendly into the calendar at this time of year.

Sorry, I can – it’s for the money and don’t let anyone at the various football associations tell you anything different.

The only thing they got wrong though was the timing. Scotland versus Argentina should be the kind of fixture to get everyone out of their armchairs and along to Hampden Park. It is an opportunity for youngsters to see one of the best sides in the world right now (Lionel Messi aside).

But early signs are that only half of the 52,000 tickets available have been snapped up by punters, despite an aggressive ad campaign by the SFA.

The media have tried to spice things up for them, by focusing on the fact that the Argies are now coached by Maradona, the man responsible for knocking England out of the 1986 World Cup with that infamous “Hand of God” goal.

It’s a shame really that the game itself hasn’t been promoted on the talents of their present day squad.

This will be a difficult fixture for George Burley as he already has his detractors, and the possibility of a heavy defeat against the South Americans tonight (Wednesday) must be keeping him awake in the wee sma’ hours.

He needs a good performance from his players in order to boost confidence before they face Holland in Amsterdam in their next World Cup qualifier early next year. But at the same time he will be criticised if he does not experiment a little and take the opportunity to blood a couple of youngsters during the 90 minutes.

I understand that Gordon Smith and his pals just couldn’t turn this game down, but the timing is all wrong and I fear for the worst on this one.