We're no' daft : Holyrood or Westminster - nae contest

Now I may be wrong about a lot of things but if you have a look at that Prime Minister's Question Time daytime show that they have on Wednesdays on the television from Westminster and then using your dit-dit you click on to the television channel that covers the Scottish Parliament and you see the way business is carried out there at Holyrood in what is a very forthright yet respectful way, you will begin to understand why so many people in Scotland will opt to be governed by their own kind. We're  no'  daft.

At Westminster  a parcel of performing rogues is to be found, while at Holyrood is discovered the kind of gathering you would expect to be dealing with the issues of an enlightened, outgoing community and  nation.

Nae contest.

Dundee Football Club, John Brown, Scot Gardiner, Barry Smith, Sandy Davie and my football career at Liff Road School

I would say that I had nothing against John Brown. As a fellow human being I am sorry that he has been eased out of his job as manager of Dundee FC.  I never saw him when he played for Dundee.  It was at a time  when I couldn't get to Dens to see the team.  What I was upset about and  ashamed of was what had happened before John Brown was appointed, in particular the way his predecessor was dismissed.

I remember that at one of the his first engagements with the media after his  appointment as manager to our great club John Brown said,  "Scot Gardiner. and I go back a long way."  I didn't quite understand what he meant. Quite fancifully, what came to mind was that they were distantly related or that they had belonged to a male society whose members identified each other by the nature of their handshaking.  It turns out that I am completely wrong,  or, if either was the case, none of those things helped Mr. Brown keep his job but you've got to admit that Mr Gardiner is a very powerful man. He's the sort of champion who has the wherewithal  to run a side like Rangers. Of course a man right enough for Rangers may not be right for Dundee.

At Raith Rovers : New Year, 2014 

As an aside I was sorry not to be at Dens Park last Saturday to see again that good man and good football coach, Barry Smith.

This particular blog carries with it the warning that my views on matters of football are in all probability - actually in all certainty -  worthless and most would rightly count me a football  naif even though I played at outside left for Liff Road School on three occasions during the season 1956-57. Firstly I played against our local rivals St Mary's School, Lochee, who then had a great team which that year  had vanquished  all before them. The result of the match was 1-1 or "one's up" as we used to say.  I was kept in the team for the next game against St. Mary's School, Forebank, which we lost 2-0,  and finally I played for the side in another local derby against Ancrum Road School at Lochee Park. We lost 5-0 or as we would say at the time,  "five nothing."  After this disaster, our manager, coach and school heidie, Mr Dalgleish, dropped me forever.  I was so distraught that next season I went to the Harris Academy and took up rugby.

Mind you I'm a person who always enjoys shining in the reflected glory of others. So, let me tell you, our goalie in the Liff Road side was a boy named Sandy Davie who went on to have an illustrious career in football, even if he did play for that other unmentionable middle eastern team. Unfortunately this fact did not turn me into a good player.

Still, despite all my disappointments in life and football, I'll be taking an early train from Totnes to be at Dens for the Hamilton Accies match on Saturday. A good match to win !  What a club I support !