It is a bittersweet feeling watching the other home nations and the Republic of Ireland do so well at the Euros. I am delighted for Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic in particular, but it brings home just how inadequate the Scottish football team is at the moment ....... writes Ewan McNaught *
I remember thinking, after attending the World Cup in France in 1998, that I may not live to see Scotland in the finals of a major tournament ever again. We had an ageing team, that Craig Brown had cobbled together for one last campaign, and little talent coming through.
Little did I know that the Euros would eventually be opened up so that half the continent, including many of the minnows, could take part. And even then, Scotland still couldn't qualify.
18 years since a major tournament, almost certainly to become 20 after the WC qualifiers, and even less talent coming through than in 1998.
Gone are the days of great Scottish players, indeed it's hard to name one current Scottish footballer of international class let alone world class.
We have no-one playing regularly at a club of any consequence in English or European football.
By common consent, our 'star' players are a guy who isn't even a regular for Watford (Anya) and a journeyman who spends the peak years of his career at a succession of clubs (Norwich, Hull City) yo-yoing between the Championship and the Premiership relegation zone (Snodgrass).
Our hopes for the future seem to be pinned on a couple of kids (McGinn, McKay) who spent last season in the Scottish Championship, a level of football so profoundly dismal that it would suffer by comparison with the Vanarama National League.
The SFA have presided over decades of decline in (what still purports to be) our national sport. They should be hounded from office, each and every one, but even the Scottish media are toothless these days. No-one seems particularly bothered, at least no-one that can do anything about the situation.
Our manager, who had failed to secure even a play-off place in the extended Euros, was greeted with rapturous applause by the Tartan Army at our last qualifier, against Gibraltar in Faro.
We have become willing accomplices in our own demise. Seemingly happy to accept third-rate status, while the likes of ROI, Wales and Northern Ireland can all summon up a collective spirit that enables the whole to exceed the sum of the parts (though Wales in particular have a few very good parts).
England's losing to humble Iceland who don't even have a professional football must be a wake up call to those with their heads stuck in the sand down south.
The draw has opened up nicely, and I can see Wales, in particular, doing very well indeed.
* Ewan is a well known DJ and nightclub owner from Edinburgh who is a lifelong Queen's supporter and his excellent articles on all subjects regularly appear acrosss the social media.