Don't you just love Scotland

[HAMISH]

The recent hysteria prompted by our plucky victory against France prompted one TA member of another club to grab a sickie, don a disguise and head off to Ukraine. Will we never learn. See when we look good, we get carried away and we are, yes you've guessed it, we're let down!!
Excused from knowing better are the kids brought up on a diet of 6 years of tartan mince.
However we have a long & distinguished record of flattering to deceive.
Take 1963 for example.
Played 8 won 4 , lost 3.
The first game was the brilliant, nay stupendous 2 -1 humiliation of the Auld Enemy in their own midden. Baxter was majestic and better than '67. Eric Caldow broke his leg and we still won with 10 men. Davy Wilson was the real hero, as were all the lads.
Next Austria at home and leading 4 - 1 with a crowd of 94,596, for a friendly mark you, the game was abandoned with mayhem ensuing.
We travel to the part time Norwegians and lose 4 -3 with Denis Law scoring a hat – trick. The squad consisting of the best generation of players ever to play for their jersey then lose in Dublin 1 – 0 to part timers again.
Get this! We then beat Spain 6 – 2 in Madrid, a team a year later that win the Euro championship.
This win surely prompted thousands to flock to Belfast for an easy win. We of course lose 2 -1 and to cap the year off beat Norway 6 -1 with Law scoring and the great Dave Mackay 2.
So when we are in Paris next year and we are 3 - 0 up in injury time, please excuse me if I refrain from getting excited.

[wiseoldman]

I remember the day well!
The 60's were the halcyon days for Scottish football. Floodlight games against crack Eastern European countries. 106,000 saw us lose to Poland in a WC qualifier in '65. We rose again and beat the mighty Italians 1 - 0 in a maginificent night in the old Hampden with the crowd down to a disgracefull 101,000 ( where were the glory hiunters that night?).
Greig plays a one two with Baxter and scores with a piledriver.
the crowd went loopy and we lost 3 -0 in Naples.

[HAMISH]

Well said the wiseoldman. The sixties were great, Alan Gilzean , he was a great player, what a header of the ball.

[wiseoldman]

I remember it as if it was yesterday.
He scored a header against the Auld Enemy in 1964 , a dreich day at fortress Hampden and we were going for 3 victories in a row! We did it, well done boys!
22 caps from '64 to a '71 game against Portugal. Scored in the 64th minute away to West Germany '69 when we lost 3 -2 and were put out of the Mexico world cup. Wee Jinky scored in the 3rd minute.
The artistry of the 60's, when will we see their likes again?

[wiseoldman]

More on that Austrian friendly above. I remember as if it was yesterday. The ref abandoned the game and there is a picture of Dennis Law walking off the park. The next picture shows an Austrian lying prostrate. Dennis had banjoed him!
The good old days!

[HAMISH]

There was a great Austrian night at Celtic Park in 1997. We won 2 - 0 with Gallagher getting both, 1 a particular screamer.
Later that year we lost 1 - 0 to Wales at Rugby Park , big Hartson scoring.
What a terrible performance. I met a guy who once met Craig brown who said that he used that night to perfect his defence and tactics for future games against countries such as Belgium.
Surely not.

[youngman]

My father said that Craig Brown was a good manager not great . Who was Andy Roxburgh?

[beckenbauer]

Der Andy is top fit manager and coach. He is a meister in Der Schweiz. Uefa big shot. A master tactician I once had a drinking contest with him and he fell over pished after 2 pints. This was at a meeting of top coaches in Europe and they took this as a sign of tactics to come. We in Europe have been perfecting that fall for years and have recently brought it to Engerlund with that Man Utd Portuguese dribbler. he saw it on a coaching video 3 years ago and uses the so called 'Roxburgh fall' quite often.
Andy does some stand up comedy on the Geneva Working mens clubs and has built this story into his act.

[wolfgangwolf]

Ich leibe Schottland. Especially the big dunderheed full backs . I heard about one called Christian Dailly. It is said over here that he can trap a ball over 1 metre. Surely not?
Wolfsburg tried to sign him 3 years ago.