Och aye, the noo!

I hope my friends north of the border will not take offence if I suggest that Scottish football is not only second rate at the moment, but that, with a few notable one-off exceptions, it has always been second rate?  Just look at their record in the World and European Cups.  There are continual calls for the top Scottish sides - certainly Celtic and Rangers - to play in the Premiership, but the harsh truth is that they would probably struggle to maintain a place in the top half of the table.  It has always seemed to me that the Scots have a very inflated sense of their own worth when it comes to football - perhaps the money isn't there, perhaps the talent is too thinly spread, but the record speaks for itself.