Search: 'Kenny Miller'

In the past decade, the quest to find Scotland's 'Third Force' has become an increasingly vain one. Gary Panton runs the rule over the brief contenders

Just months after completing their meteoric rise from the lower rungs of Scottish football to a third place finish in the top flight, the critics are claiming that Livingston’s bubble has already burst. Ten games into the season, an im­pres­sive 4-3 UEFA Cup victory over Sturm Graz could not dis­guise the fact that the Livi Lions had slump­ed to the bottom of the SPL.

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Dear WSC
I must respond to Simon Bell’s assertion (Letters, WSC 187) that Hugh Dallas gave an “incomprehensible display” in the Germany v US World Cup quarter-final. He is probably referring to two incidents, the first one involving Frings’ hand­ball on the line. Dallas explained his decision in the Scottish press, stating that in his opinion Frings’ handball was completely accidental – in other words the ball played him – and referees could not give a penalty or send a man off in these circumstances. I watched the incident again at normal speed and I completely agree with him, Frings could not have done anything other than handle the ball, or arm it if we’re being pedantic. Just because a goal would have undoubtedly resulted had Frings not been positioned where he was does not mean that a penalty and a sending off should have been automatic. Hugh got it right. The second incident was the mistaken identity booking of Oliver Neuville. Dallas admitted he got this one wrong but he was not the only guilty party as he had firstly run over to consult his linesman, an Englishman incidentally, before booking Neuville instead of Jeremies. Personally, I thought Dallas was one of the best refs at the World Cup and was on a par with Collina and Anders Frisk, a view obviously shared by FIFA when they appointed him fourth official in the final.
Scott Harrison, Hamilton

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Craig Brown's reign was a pretty joyless one, but the blame for Scotland's plight lies elsewhere, says Ken Gall. And bidding for Euro 2008 will make things worse

The strangely high-pitched booing at the end of Scotland’s wretched World Cup tie against Latvia (courtesy of thousands of primary school children fortunate enough to receive free tickets) marked a slightly surreal end to Craig Brown’s term as nat­ion­al manager. Yet the manner of Brown’s departure was symptomatic of much of his eight years in charge. Once again we had the passionless Hampden oc­cas­ion, the tie against a Baltic state (entire stretches of his reign appear to have taken place against these coun­tries) and the unmerited victory somehow ground out against palpably more gifted opponents.

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Craig Brown talks to Jonathan Northcroft about his expectations for Euro 2000 and how is job as Scotland manager is affected by changing trends in international football

Which countries do you expect to do well at Euro 2000?
If I had to pick a winner, I’d choose France. My top four fav­ourites are France, the Czech Republic, England and Holland – in that order. People might be surprised I’m putting England that high, but I feel that when Kevin Keegan gets his squad away from club distractions, their performances will improve. There’s so much at stake at English club level these days, it’s bound to have an effect. If you’re a Manchester United player, for example, you naturally concentrate on the Champions League and winning the Premiership during the season. Get the play­ers away at the training camp, where Keegan will be very good, where he can get the mo­tivation bubbling up, and it’ll be different. The French have obvious qualities – they won the World Cup with a great team and none of those players has since gone over the hill. Indeed they’ve strengthened their squad by bringing in quality young players like Johan Micoud. Laurent Blanc’s still in great form, aged 34, and Didier Deschamps still battles in midfield. Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet are great striking options. And Zidane is still the man, for me. They’re the closest the world’s got to a complete team: as well as their skills, they’ve got great athleticism and just look at the size of them. The fact they struggled a little in qualifying was just a natural reaction to coming back to earth after win­ning the World Cup.

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Rotherham thought they had unearthed a great young talent in Stephen Alabi. Then it all got complicated, as Iain Busby explains

Little is written about Rotherham United in the national press. This all changed, however, after January 16th when a Millers fan appeared on Radio Five’s 6.06 programme. The subject under discussion was one Stephen Alabi, Rotherham’s very own “new Michael Owen”. 

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