Returning from a wonderful trip to wonderful Moscow it was only at Heathrow I became angry. A woeful performance, not for the first time. The BBC were in front of me at security. It was of course their fault.

I have listened to football on the radio since I was a lad. Radio Scotland in Carlisle, Radio Scotland in Darmstadt West Germany on clear atmospheric winter nights. Back in Scotland with Radio Clyde. Richard Park and the wonderful Jimmy Sanderson. Sometimes I was at the game, often not. The phone - in. In Ayr I had to have the radio on the kitchen window ledge to receive the signal.
Jimmy passed and Radio Scotland sharpened their act.

Tighter and best of all good discussions with journalists. The occasional barney. If Jimmy Sanderson was obtuse James Traynor was controversial and stubborn and unlikeable. Probably deliberately so. Entertaining, oh yes and a must for a Saturday afternoon.

We had the period of the New Firm and Scotland’s regular qualification for tournaments and decent club runs in Europe. Really good quality players if not in the Law or Baxter quality. Rangers emerged as a real force financially, Celtic followed. Good but not brilliant.

Then came the period of decline. Dreadful football. Truly awful. 21 years of failure internationally, with more to come. Rangers self-combusted and we had the wee teams winning trophies. Great. not brilliant though,

As for BBC Scotland. The journos have disappeared, save the excellent Tom English. Punters, jings they seem to mirror the standard of oor fitba. ‘You know’.

I put forward for the case for the prosecution the word ‘brilliant’. An oft used word. You know.
Scottish football and the word ‘brilliant’. Our performance in Moscow? The preceding 2 games at Hampden? Killie losing to a team of Welsh semi-pros? Continual failure in Europe for our clubs?
I could go on. You know.

‘You know’. By a pundit using the words ‘you know’ by definition implies that since I the listener
 ‘ you knows’ then the pundit is redundant. You know.

Anyway, you get my drift. ‘Brilliant’ is a word redundant in the description of anything in Scottish fitba.

Of course the ( terminal) decline of Scottish fitba is not the sole fault of the media. We have all played our part, we are all collectively guilty. I watch Scotland and often I am not sure I recognise some of our players, a centre half who was last week on the bench for Aberdeen. Jings.

I saw Denis Law play. Jim Baxter. Henderson and Jinky Johnstone. They were ‘brilliant’.
A suggestion. In describing Scottish fitba, goals in Scottish fitba, games in Scottish fitba please use the phrases; nae bad, quite good, good, excellent, adequate. You get my drift. You know.