THE Scottish FA really know how to kick a man when he is down.
SFA president George Peat has blamed Wolves striker Chris Iwelumo for blowing Scotland’s World Cup qualifying chances.
Smokescreens and mirrors – as far as excuses go, Peat’s is right up there with the lone gunman who shot JFK in Texas.
If Iwelumo’s timing was off for the shot he skewed past the Norwegian goal at Hampden, Peat’s was as impressive as a two-bob plastic watch from the Timmer Market.
Making those comments on the eve of two crunch qualifying matches is shocking judgement.
Unlike Iwelumo, Peat did find the net, with an embarrassing own goal on the eve of Scotland’s biggest game for years.
Peat said: “If a certain individual had scored when he had an open goal at Hampden against Norway, we would have been three points ahead of Norway.”
Not just his foot in mouth, Peat has his shins, knee and thigh lodged way past his teeth.
Forget ‘Boozegate’, Burley’s poor tactics and inability to motivate the team.
Forget Kris Boyd bailing from the squad, and the absolute humiliation of a 1-0 loss in Skopje to Macedonia and a 4-0 mauling to in Oslo.
Instead, it was Iwelumo’s fault.
Gordon Brown must surely be taking notes, can we expect a release from the spin doctors at No.10 within the next week?
Iwelumo is also to blame for the recession, Afghanistan and global warming.
He is also to blame for me losing my hair, developing a paunch and being splashed by a car in the rain this morning.
Worth a try from the PM, because the big striker is as much to blame for recession as he is Scotland’s disastrous World Cup campaign.
Surely SFA chief Gordon Smith should back Iwelumo.
Smith’s miss for Brighton against Manchester United in the 2-2 1983 FA Cup final was just as bad.
‘And Smith must score’, the commentator famously shouted. He didn’t.
‘And Scotland must qualify’, the Tartan Army plead. We won’t.
The biggest odds ever offered by bookmakers was 20,000,000-1 for Elvis Presley to ride into town on Shergar and then play Lord Lucan in the Wimbledon final
I would fancy my chances with that, rather than back Burley to lead Scotland to the World Cup.
In a nation where six weeks of rain constitutes a good summer, we need something to lift spirits.
Qualifying for the World Cup would provide us that.
It has rained so hard this week many Highland, junior and amateur games have been called off.
The downpour was so heavy in one game the lines on one flooded pitch were hardly visible.
Mud and water, the pitch had turned into a mire, as a strong gale whipped off the North Sea.
The two captains looked at each other glumly.
“Well,” said the one who had just lost the toss, “which end would you like?”
“I think we’ll play with the tide,” he said.
Unfortunately, no matter how much I hope for a World Cup miracle, under Burley I fear Scotland are swimming against the tide.