What if ... Scotland had won in 1978?

[Raghav]

What if ... Scotland had won in 1978?

With the World Cup just a few months away, football-haters from Dubai to Dudley are braced for a summer of misery. But in one of the world's newer states, there is barely a bad word said about the planet's biggest sporting jamboree. "If we hadn't won the cup in Argentina back in 1978," says Scotland's prime minister, Alex Salmond, "the devolution vote in '79 might have gone very differently.
And after that - who knows?"

[BoyBrumby]

Although it sounds like a narcotic fantasy, Scotland winning in 78 wasn't all that outlandish; they qualified ahead of Czechoslovkia, the then European champions and had a piss easy first round group with The Netherlands, Peru & Iran. Most pundits would've taken yer sweaties to advance with the Dutch.

Of course, typically, Scotland lost to Peru and then failed to beat Iran meaning they needed to beat Holland by three to go thru, which they failed to do but did beat the future runners-up by 3-2 and lead 3-1 at one stage.

[Scaly piscine]

Scotland and epic failures of this kind are just destined to be. In every parallel universe Scotland will have similarly failed.

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by BoyBrumby

Although it sounds like a narcotic fantasy, Scotland winning in 78 wasn't all that outlandish; they qualified ahead of Czechoslovkia, the then European champions and had a piss easy first round group with The Netherlands, Peru & Iran. Most pundits would've taken yer sweaties to advance with the Dutch.

..... ending up in a 2nd group stage with Brazil & Argentina

They looked a decent side in 1977, but a few key players were just past their sell-by date by 1978 and the manager wasn't sufficiently interested in the English 1st Division to recognise that Souness, Gemmill & Robertson had overtaken Rioch, Masson & Johnston. That, and a massive overdose of hubris, did for them.

Whether they would have seriously challenged said Brazil & Argentina was debateable anyway. Or Italy, or even Holland when taking the game seriously. People getting excited about the Jocks leading 3-1 forget how contemptuously easily Rep pulled it back to 3-2 to make sure that they still went through. I think it was Lou Macari who observed that McLeod thought that tactics were a pack of small mints.

[sledger]

What if pigs flew is a more interesting and altogether less pointless analysis imho.

[Pothas]

Is a lighthearted article to be fair, some of other ones he has written are more entertaining though.

[sledger]

Haha, I'll admit I was being somewhat facetious, poking fun at other parts of the UK is something that I continue to find quite amusing.

[Burgey]

You lot are worse at that than even we are with the interstate rivalry/ piss taking.

Always have a giggle at how you Pommies slaughter each other based on which regions you're from. Best example was, of course, the Battle of the Worst Places in England thread.

[Pothas]

To be fair there are countries that are a hell of a lot worse than us.

Thought everyone in Australia just mercilessly ridiculed Tasmania, is basically the Isle of Wight afterall.

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by Pothas

Is a lighthearted article to be fair, some of other ones he has written are more entertaining though.

1st April job wasn't it? It took me a moment or two to realise that the title was actually "What if Scotland hadn't won the 1978 WC?". Perhaps there might be some folks who briefly thought that they had done when they read the piece.

fwiw there was a brief period of time - late 1970's to early 1980's - when the Scots had more genuinely high class players than England. Can't see that happening again.

[Pothas]

He wrties a regular what if.... piece, a lot of them far more ridiculous than this one.

Enjoyed the Tony Blair as a rock star based on Ozzy Osborune and Gordon Brown as a Rugby interntational

[GingerFurball]

1974 would have been interesting as well if we'd beaten Zaire 5-0 instead of 3-0.

1974 was probably our best ever team at a finals tournament - and in our tradition of glorious failure, we were the first team to be knocked out of the World Cup without actually losing a game.

[wpdavid]

Originally Posted by GingerFurball

1974 would have been interesting as well if we'd beaten Zaire 5-0 instead of 3-0.

1974 was probably our best ever team at a finals tournament - and in our tradition of glorious failure, we were the first team to be knocked out of the World Cup without actually losing a game.

Yeah, that was a fine side. Silly buggers switched off against Zaire after going 2-0 up IIRC, instead of clocking up a cricket score. I'm trying to think of the manager's name - Willy Ormond was it? Shame from your pov that he wasn't still around for the 1978 finals.

[Ausage]

Originally Posted by Pothas

Thought everyone in Australia just mercilessly ridiculed Tasmania, is basically the Isle of Wight afterall.

Wouldn't say we mercilessly ridicule them. We more point out that they are relaxed about relations with members of a similar genetic stock.

[Pothas]

Pretty sure we point that out about anyone who lives outside an urban area to be fair.