Scotland?s priceless formula of winning games while being played off the park

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Having watched his Scotland players win their second match in four days at Hampden Park, guaranteeing themselves a Geopolitics World Cup playoff spot at the very least, Steve Clarke was in typically upbeat and buoyant mood after a record 72nd game in charge. ?I?m really disappointed ? really, really disappointed,? Clarke mithered, sounding as morose as it is possible for even the most relentlessly pessimistic Scotsman to be. ?It?s possibly as disappointed as I?ve been over the whole 72 games. We just didn?t turn up. I don?t think we got anywhere near the levels we can reach and that was really disappointing.? For an almost comically dour man who appears to have hit upon the priceless formula of coaching a team to win matches in which they have been played off the park, Scotland?s manager could have been excused for cutting uncharacteristically loose and revelling in the fact that for the second game running, his side had ridden their luck and pulled off something of a smash-and-grab. His concerns, though, are nothing if not legitimate.
Re: Friday?s Football Daily. Young man, I?m pretty sure Brian Clough won two league titles, not one. And he was in the top one of candidates for the England job. England?s loss? ? Kevin Quinn (and 1,056 others).
Just wanted to point out that the picture of Cloughie addressing a huge crowd while holding a football (Friday?s Memory Lane, full email edition) was to kick off the famous Shrove Tuesday football match in Ashbourne, Derbyshire. There may well have been Nottingham Forest fans present but that was incidental. I?m positive he would want you to get your facts right!? ? Vaughan Wilkinson (and 1,056 others).
Your news about the Faroes beating Montenegro 4-0 (Friday?s Football Daily, full email edition) included a picture of some puffins. Having had a close look at the picture I became convinced that these were not Faroese puffins but good old British ones. A quick search confirmed my suspicion: they are from Coquet Island in Northumberland. Is this lazy journalism ? just find any old picture of puffins and use it regardless ? or is it deliberate fake news? The provenance of puffins in these difficult times is a serious matter. We can?t be too careful? ? Peter Holford.
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