SFA humiliated in Dublin as Ireland go on the lash

Ten days ago the SFA were harbouring ambitions of playing at the World Cup Finals in Qatar. 

Facing war ravaged Ukraine at Hampden, backed by the legendary Tartan Army, a home win followed by a trip to Cardiff was all that stood between Ian Maxwell and a pot of gold flowing through the coffers at Hampden. 

Reality set in as Ukraine played Scotland off the park with a 3-1 defeat generous on the hosts. 

In midweek Scotland beat Armenia 2-0 with both goals coming from defenders, the Ukraine defeat could be put down as a blip from the SFA media messengers. Wha’s like us, ken? 

Today in Dublin a few chickens came home to roost as a young, fresh, erratic but excitng Ireland side hammered the Scots 3-0. James McClean and Shane Duffy seemed to enjoy it. 

Defeats to Armenia and Ukraine had revived Dunfermline references for Irish boss Stephen Kenny in the Scottish media.. 

Unlike Steve Clarke and the ultra-conservative SFA, Kenny has a passion and energy for the game. At the Aviva Stadium today it showed. 

Leading by 2-0 after half an hour it was party time for the Irish as they piled the pressure on their bewildered visitors. Both sets of players have had similarly long seasons, strangely it seemed that the Scotland stars were looking towards their holiday. 

Six minutes into the second half Swansea’s Michael Obafemi fired a 25 yarder beyond the despairing Craig Gordon. 

Ian Maxwell, Rod Petrie and the rest of the blazers head to Armenia now for a jolly ahead of Tuesday’s final match of the season. 

With Wales and Ireland on an upward trajectory it seems like a good time for another SFA root and branch think tank to produce a report absolving them of blame for a very blinkered approach to developing the game. 

Bobby Madden, John Beaton, Nick Walsh, Kevin Clancy, Willie Collum, Ewan Anderson and Andrew Dallas are on the SFA payroll.