Anthony McIntyre ⚽ There can be few serious complaints North of the English border about last night's result for Hans over Jock.
If there any outbursts barked with a harsh Glaswegian twang , they need to be directed towards the men from Hampden rather than the opponents or match officials.
While far from the most impressive looking team ever fielded by Germany, Die Mannschaft simply swept the opposition away in a 5-1 victory to launch Euro 2024.
Despite the big names in the German camp being considerably beyond their twenties - Tony Kroos and Thomas Muller are both 34 - the team was much too energetic for the lacklustre Scots. The Germans were on home soil but that hardly excuses the dispirited fight from the Scottish team, some of whom looked like they were trying to control a haggis with their feet rather than a ball. The Andy Robertson-captained side played like that useless outfit from Argentina 1978 who turned out, but not up, against Peru in the opening game of the World Cup, where they lost 3-1. The self-delusion amongst Scotland fans, then and now, which leads to a belief that they have a side that can compete at the top level of international soccer might steal the thunder from England in that department once this competition ends if England reach or manage to win the final.
The first half of the game I watched with my son in the Black Bull. We had gone there earlier for a post-funeral get together. That afternoon we had accompanied a TPQ patron and frequent commenter, Boyne Rover, to his final resting place. An avid soccer fan, and no shrinking violet when it came to venting his opinion, he would have had something to say about the poor Scottish performance last evening.
What remained of the funeral group left the Bull at half time for the Railway Tavern, but on arrival found that it was sardine packed. So, tight in fact, that myself and my son didn't even have one drink there, preferring instead to make the short walk to our local, The Pheasant where, we could watch the game in comfort and were still able to hear each other talk. Packed pubs are just not my thing.
Whether this German side can shake off the lethargy that had set in during the final years of the Jogi Löw stewardship, plummeting even further under Hansi Flick, is a moot point. I don't see them progressing beyond the semifinals, but that would still be a serious achievement given some of the uncharacteristically sustained poor form for a German national side that the footballing public has witnessed in recent times. Julian Nagelsmann seems to have breathed life into the corpse that Flick handed to him but this in all probability is a team being built in preparation for the next World Cup.
No bets here against Jurgen Klopp taking the reins for that.
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