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Struggled through the SA - CAN match last night. Dreadful spectacle but pleased Canada won. South Africa’s tactics appeared to be kill the game (for most of the second half with umpteen pass back to their goalie) and draw CAN towards them, then when the opportunity presented itself attack with speed. The thing for me was SA appeared to be the more skilful and quicker team. If they had simply attacked CDN more then I believe SA would have got through. Glad they didn’t seeing the antics they displayed. No wonder a great number of fans were booing SA! Canada were no great shakes however (reminded me of most Morton teams) and they’ll have to improve if they wish to stay in the tournament. I’m not sure if Oluwaseyi was the Canadian centre forward last night. He had the mobility of a broken washing machine IMO and made Chanka Zimba almost gazelle like. Looking forward to the JPN - BRL being a much needed injection of attacking football. bc

There were moments for Canada, but your assessment is pretty accurate. Oluwaseyi is not first choice striker. It should be Jonathan David and/or Cyle Larin. JD and CL have 74 goals between them in 174 combined appearances. Much like Scotland however, the striker depth chart is pretty weak ... recent call-ups included former ICT player Aribim Pepple. What Canada had that Scotland didn't (other than an easier group) however was team spirit and effort. Perhaps I am being a little disingenuous, but too many Scotland players seemed less than interested, jaded after a long season, or simply didn't perform. For Canada, they may not have the skill of the bigger nations, and for sure I think Netherlands or Morocco may put an end to their journey, but in most of their games they battled for every ball. Manager Jesse Marsch got a lot of criticism south of the border for encouraging his guys to keep going when they were playing Qatar and it was 5-0, then 6-0. He wanted them to compete to the very end and score 7, 8, or 9 if they could. These players would crawl over broken glass to play for him and for their country and that's how we used to be. Heck, look at all the others who overtook us in the hunt for a last 32 slot and almost every one of them took their last game by the scruff of the neck and left nothing out there on the pitch at the end of their respective games. We did not. Going back to the Canada game, one thing I did notice was that as soon as Alphonso Davies came on in the 75th minute, that lifted Canada immensely and the remaining 15 minutes were spent pretty much camped out in the South African half. He had some nice touches and his presence, even not fully fit gave a lift and some extra energy to all around the team. I think they also knew he only had 20 minutes in him at this stage of his recovery so needed to get it done before it went to extra-time! Not sure if this was broadcast outside Canada, but at the end, the media here of course stayed with the players and coach as they huddled on the pitch, and he gave them a team-talk. He was calling them "Canadian Heroes" which is true as they have gone further than Canada ever has before, and noting that kids will start playing, or become re-invigorated by the game because of how far they have got so far and the feelgood factor around the team. It was a very inspirational talk and very emotional for many of the players (and the manager). If somehow, they can make it past their next opponents, then that would be amazing, but they would need to lift their game, and Davies would also need to be available for longer than 15 minutes. The manager himself described it as a "free hit" and has come in for some flak for saying that, but I think what he meant in the heat of the moment is that qualifying for the last 32 was the (realistic) goal, and getting to the last 16 or any further is totally and utterly a bonus and most Canadian fans will agree with that realistic assessment - even if hoping for a bit of luck and far more :)

I see Saturday's game with C*unty has been switched to Clach Park to give Sarens PSG pitch more time to grow??? KO 1pm

I feel sorry for Steve Clarke. He seems a decent guy who was doing the best he could with the hand he was dealt, and I’m not sure that we can come up with a replacement who will be able to achieve more. His task was to get us to major tournaments, and he did that. Sadly, we failed at them, in part due to being too cautious and in part because in some positions we are just not good enough. I believe he has handled himself with dignity, including in his decision to step down, which I think is the right decision for him given the last few weeks. As others have said, our structure doesn’t seem to help the national team and young talent is stifled as a result. An example is Finlay Curtis, who is seen by many as integral to our national team’s future, but he’d to go out on loan from a poor Rangers team to get regular action. How many of our squad of 26 were first pick starters at their club sides? Not as many as we needed, and it showed. A disappointing campaign, but our fans were magnificent.

I don’t want to criticise the individual as he was just the latest person to have to deal with a almost impossible task, which was to develop and progress a national team that could take the next step of qualifying to the knockout out stage of the Euro or WC tournaments. I give credit to Clarke for having the common sense to know his time ‘had run’. It’s a statement (to anyone listening IMO) we neither have the organisational structure, people running the ‘show’ or players with the requisite ability or skills to take us to that level. When to take in the populations of the major (successful) footballing nations then it’s clear numbers (players -competition-standards) count. eg GRM - 85; FR - 70; ENG - 60; SPN - 48 Million. Of our WC group, BRL-214, Morocco-39, HTI -12 M. Equivalent Euro countries with Scotland 6 million, DMK -6, SWD -11, NWY-6, BLM-12, IRL - 6, PGL - 11. Belgium and Portugal has proved that with the right vision, structure and people (weather may also be an important factor here), it is possible to compete against the ‘big’ countries. The WC has proved that ‘small’ nations can however can provide exciting football, Curacao the prime example with there flair and quick moving football. They came unstuck of course points wise (2), however was an example (to me) that an adventurous approach is more appreciated than a Don’t - Loose one. I think ‘adventure’ wasn’t in the Stevie Clarke training manual. It only happened by luck. So to close, good luck to Mr Clarke if he wishes to continue in football management. There will be clubs willing to use his talents and experience. For Scotland (and more importantly its fans). the challenge and expectations need to be kept in check. Ie what is realistically possible. Thats not to say don’t stop the tartan army having a great time at tournaments when we quality, quite the reverse, their brilliant ambassadors. The only thing I would do is change the model (and leaders) at the SFA has for the development of our young players. The current one (employed for decades) has not worked or progressed your players skill set IMO. I don’t wait in great expectation! Thats it off my chest!! bc

Next country I'm visiting - apart from Eng-er-land where I stay - is Norway, so I'll transfer my allegiance to them. I'll actually be in Norway if they make it to the semis or final, though I doubt they will. Practising my "Ro!" now....