So 35 years after Joe Jordan’s famously punched the ball to break Welsh hearts, revenge must have been sweet for fans of the red dragons, when Gareth Bale took a tumble on Friday night as Scotland’s faint hopes of world cup qualification were sunk in the Cardiff rain.
In a match which neither side could afford to lose, it was Chris Coleman who enjoyed the rub of the green, whilst Craig Levein could only bemoan his lack of luck after the Scots lost out with a seemingly good Steven Fletcher goal chalked off which was quickly followed by Bale doing his best Tom Daley impression.
And so, as expected the knives are out for the Scotland manager, with both the Tartan Army and the media pundits coming together in their condemnation of Levein who faces a real struggle to hold onto his job.
The former Hearts and Dundee United boss has never truly been accepted, and the national team now look likely to miss out on yet another major international competition, with us Scots looking on in from the outside, whilst the world gathers for a month long party in Brazil in 2014.
Such has been the ongoing failure of Scotland that yet another generation of young Scots are now growing up never having had the opportunity to witness the country participating in a tournament.
Removing Levein from his position will only paper over the cracks.
He should go as he has failed, his remit was to at least be capable of leading the Scots into contention for qualification for last summers Euros and the forthcoming world cup finals, something which has proved incapable of doing.
Levein continues to talk up the players at his disposal, speaking of progress but to this observer, if he really feels this to be the case its high time he replaced his glare free lenses, because the fact of the matter is that Scotland are a mediocre team full of ordinary performers.
Scottish fans calling for his head and expressing a desire for the likes of Gordon Strachan and Kenny Dalglish to take over the reigns, though, may be well advised to take a step back and look at the overall picture.
Since we last qualified for an international competition, France 98, six managers have accepted the responsibility of leading the national team and all six have failed to lead us to the promised land.
There is a distinct dearth of talented Scottish footballers and the sooner radical steps are taken at a complete overhaul of the way the game is run from top to bottom the better.
Year after year after year, I have become frustrated and disillusioned with those who profess to have the games interest at heart, claiming that we are on the right track. If the coaching of our kids was as good as we are told it is, then why the heck can Scotland not produce our very own Gareth Bale?
Yes plans are in place for new academies, but more needs to be done if we are ever going to have the pleasure of watching a Scotland team packed with exciting players in the mould of Law, Baxter and Dalglish.
For example, when are the authorities ever going to bite the bullet and accept that summer football is a priority?
How can we expect our players to develop good technique when we ask them to play during poor weather conditions asking at the same time our punters to turn up and fork out decent money, which should be going toward dealing with the spiralling cost of utility bills?
Scottish football is at its lowest ebb in a lifetime, the national team is now in the wilderness, our clubs are considered cannon fodder in the European arena, sponsors and more importantly fans are deserting in their droves and the general standard of play is as poor as I can remember.
Sacking Craig Levein will make some people happy, but that would just be papering over the cracks, the ball is well and truly burst.
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Bale diving? Maloney has admitted there was contact and he didn’t dive, mug.
Bale didnt dive, he clipped his own foot, as a result of the minor contact of maloney. I dont believe it was worthy of a penalty but then again Berra’s grappling assualt prior to that was. The truth is Scotland was a victim in another refereeing catastophe. Dis allowed goal, should of been a 2nd yellow blah blah blah. In the end i ask what will craig levein going achive?
Sack him and the SFA gains a bit of control brings some fans back.
Leave and hes a coward a failure another man who just wasnt good enough.
Craig Levein is paying the price for a system that has failed us, not him. He is not without fault, 4-6-0, commans, fletcher, miller and the rangers trio have all been alied to his seemingly ievitable demise but the man has admitted fault and changed. It is not better to have an honest man leading our country, one who seemingly is strong enough to stand by his decisions, and if wrong look to change or adapt them.
Craig Levein and more importantly our team needs our support but equally our critisim but only when its constructive. Simplay stating that a manager needs removing is like demanding a shop assistant be sacked because he pointed you to the wrong aisle in the supermarket.
I hear we are not good enough, i hear this on a regular basis. The question should be then how do we improve? Removing Craig is not the answer, this will only set us back further. Do we sack everyone that fails until someone then gets lucky? We forced Craig Brown out the door, after 2 campaigns we qualified for and 2 we didnt a 50% sucess rate.
50% is better than the current 0% which bemoans now 6 Scotland mangers since. We need pride and optmisim to transend onto the pitch, not hatred.
Come on Scotland