IF it’s entertainment you want, go to the cinema. So spoke football’s ultimate curmudgeon Bobby Williamson, immortal words which sprung to mind this weekend, and not just because Motherwell had just achieved a League Cup Final place like his young Hibs team did back then.
It should be stated that Williamson’s epochal quote didn’t do his chances of a long reign at Easter Road much good. He was hardly being measured for a statue at the ground before then anyway, despite a team which looks better – it featured Derek Riordan, Garry O’Connor and a young Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson and Steven Whittaker – with each passing year.
His fate was strangely unlike that of his Gallic predecessor Franck Sauzee, whose buccaneering side are still remembered fondly, even though one win in 15 was a run of results which was an unmitigated disaster. They provided great entertainment – particularly for their opponents.
Read more: Rangers hit out at Scottish FA after Bruno Alves offered ban and Ryan Bowman escapes punishment
Stephen Robinson’s game plan was hardly forged in Fort Knox. It was there for all to see last week in the 2-1 Lanarkshire derby win against Hamilton Accies. That was a match on an artificial pitch which the Northern Irishman knew would turn into a scrap so he made it happen on his terms.
It was also there in the subtext of pretty much every interview asked for or given on the eve of the BetFred Cup semi final. Invited to comment upon Alfredo Morelos’ apparent love of the physical nature of the Scottish game, Peter Hartley, the club’s full-blooded central defender, licked his chops and said that not only did the Colombian know where to find him if the game turned out that way, that he was happy to wait for him in the tunnel afterwards if so desired. Other managers might blush or shirk from the seamier side of the sport, but Robinson embraces it. Rangers were intimidated by it.
There is a pride in having players who will run longer and battle harder than any opposition. Okay so Motherwell benefited from the bizarre contribution of Steven McLean, who booked Bowman for using an arm in aerial contest then did nothing when he repeated the feat to burst Fabio Cardoso’s nose, but Rangers should have been able to avoid falling into the trap. Moult, capable of the kind of sublime skill which led to the clinching second, was also the victim of a flying elbow which saw no action taken upon the perpetrator.
But what did it tell us about the age-old Williamson dilemma as to whether football managers are indeed obliged to offer entertainment? Well, few, if any, of the Motherwell fans at Hampden on Sunday will be asking for their money back and wishing they had taken in a Sunday Matinee at the Bobby Williamson memorial multiplex instead.
The same would probably apply if Brendan Rodgers went with a 4-6-0 against PSG at the Parc des Princes next month, left a few challenges on Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, and scraped a 1-0 win. There is a knack in closing down the space and shutting down a team. In fact, a few honourable exceptions, this is what Scottish football success usually looks like. Despite what Lionel Messi might think about Walter Smith’s ‘anti-football’ tactics, ultimately in football, the ends always justifies the means. We can’t all be Pep Guardiola.
But is it just me who feels a little bit queasy about another generation of kids being schooled in smashing it long and competing for second balls? It can’t be, because Brendan Rodgers said something similar a fortnight ago. Fair play to Motherwell, they proved there are different ways to win a football match. But wouldn’t it be great if we could discover a more satisfying blueprint for Scottish footballing success?
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