Cup fever

This might seem a little premature, given that our cup date with Threave is still ten days away, but the draw for the Second Round of the Scottish Cup (or the 'Homecoming Cup' as it's now called) caught my attention. In focusing on the Cup, of course, my main objective is to avoid dwelling too long on the current predicament of the national side. Yet the temptation to give a brief summary of my views on that matter is, nevertheless, difficult to resist. Recent press coverage has, as usual, been overly pessimistic: in reality, finishing second in the group should hardly be rocket science, even after a draw with Norway. The real worry at the moment, though, is Kris Boyd's international 'retirement.' As Scotland supporters, we have to support the manager on this: Boyd's refusal to play under George Burley is out of order, and George was right to vent his frustration. Yet in spite of this, I have a certain degree of sympathy for Boyd: he is without doubt one of the best strikers around, and the decision to omit him from the side was unfathomable. I remain confident, though, that our World Cup campaign will get back on track, with or without Boyd, and with or without his potential replacement Chris Iwelumo. The latter has (at present) dubious credentials in international football, and a name which is (nearly) an anagram of 'I'm a wally.' Still, hopefully he'll come good - all those goals he's scoring for Wolves must count for something...

Anyway, returning to the Scottish Cup, the primary focus of my musings isn't our chance for revenge against the Castle Douglas outfit, but the tie which, when the draw was made, read as follows:

'Annan Athletic v Pollok or Spartans'

For anyone with an interest in non-league football, this tie has it all. The most recent graduates of the non-league system, our SFL Third Division rivals Annan Athletic, were to be paired with either Spartans - their erstwhile rivals for that coveted place in the league, champions of the East of Scotland League in which Annan competed last season, and thus probably the strongest side in the senior non-league pyramid, or Pollok - widely recognised as the 'giants' of the junior setup. When Spartans defeated Pollok after a replay, I, for one, was pleased. Whilst some supporters of top junior clubs like Pollok tend to assume that they could hold their own in the SFL, the senior non-league setup (e.g. the East of Scotland League) is often overlooked. Whilst junior sides periodically enjoy a reasonable profile in the national media, the same cannot be said for the likes of Spartans. I am, though, delighted that junior sides now have the opportunity to compete in the Scottish Cup, if only because it allows the myth of their supposed superiority to be debunked.

Spartans' forthcoming clash with Annan is no less 'politically interesting' than their first-round tie, and once again I find myself on Spartans' side. Put simply, I have a great degree of sympathy with the Edinburgh outfit after their failure to gain election to the SFL during the summer. Very few clubs can match their commitment to youth and community football, and I believe that admitting them to the League would not only have been a worthwhile experiment, but ultimately also a successful one. (Besides, the club which produced Kevin Motion surely deserves some reward!) That is not to say that I have anything against the Annan club - I thoroughly enjoyed our encounter with them in August, and they made us most welcome, quite unlike Gretna, their predecessors in the SFL. If we manage to get past Threave, alas, what I'd like most of all is a trip to Spartans in the third round!