All Things Scottish Football

Steve Clarke's Scotland side are two games away from creating history and ending twenty-two years of hurt for the nation. Thursday night's play-off sees Scotland take on Israel once again at Hampden, this time with the lucrative final against Norway or Serbia up for grabs. It was Alex McLeish who guided the team into this position but with lackluster performances following that many had lost faith in him to go the distance and make the Euro's. The arrival of Clarke did not tame the countless questions surrounding formation, selection and tactics, and although results have been positive recently, those questions still remain. This article shall dissect some of the big conundrums facing the Scotland boss as we set ourselves up for the big occasion. Continuing with the back three? If you haven't sat with your mates or tuned into a fiery debate on the radio on how Scotland shoe-horn both Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson, then quite frankly ... I don't believe you. This

Photo credit - Craig Brown DAFC Seven long months have passed since Alloa Athletic, and many other lower league sides, last graced the pitch for some competitive action. All was beginning to look rosy at the Indodrill in our last game as Peter Grant's classy side swept away promotion hopefuls, Inverness, 2-0. Form was beginning to pick up, stalwarts like Neil Parry were making their way back and the arrival of some exciting youngsters were catching the eye. Of course those youngsters being Scott Banks and Lee Connolly who brought such flair and guile in the last victory of the season.  Photo credit - Gettyimages So, Banks hitting the scene, Parry back in the sticks, Trouten and O'Hara on fire ... the promotion push was on! However, it was all too good to be true as the football season came to an almighty halt before the crunch tie against Partick Thistle. Alloa sat in 8th position. After a very smooth and transparent process, that position was confirmed final and Peter Grant ha

As our world seems to be falling apart at the seams, so too does our beautiful game here in Scotland. We have infighting, legal battles, calls of conspiracies and amongst the nonsense in the boardrooms, a gloomy picture of the future is emerging. Teams begin to set their sights on the new season, however, it comes at a great cost with the prospect of no fans for months and the mass exodus of players from clubs. You only need to look at big hitters like Dunfermline whos hands were forced to release a whopping eighteen players. These inevitable cost cutting measures have been common across the leagues as clubs prepare to play with thread-bare squads. There are two exceptions to this. Queens Park in League 2 and Darvel in the West of Scotland League. Queens Park have certainly caught the eye of many after progressing from their historic amateur roots to go full-time this summer. The Hampden club faced months of great debate between board members and fans but the conclusion was to