WAVE OF FALSE OPTIMISM

As the week has passed, the hype has reached fever pitch.

Tomorrow, all eyes will be on Hampden as our brave boys go to war with the Dutch for a place at Euro 2004 in Portugal next summer.

With each day, a new battle cry has gone up, to such an extent that it is now hard to think of a member of Berti Vogts’ squad who has not defiantly told us victory can be ours.

All I can say to that is — can I have a pint of what they’ve been drinking?

Sorry for sounding like some treasonous traitor, but let’s get real, chaps — the best Scotland can hope over the imminent two-legged play-off against Dick Advocaat’s boys is respectability in defeat.

Don’t be fooled by our propaganda and the somewhat careless failure by the Dutch to top their qualifying group.

Oh that it wasn’t so, particularly with dastardly Dick in charge of them, but they are a much better side than we are.

From Edwin van der Saar in goal to Ruud van Nistelrooy on the subs’ bench, they ooze class and quality.

OK, that quality failed to get them to the last World Cup finals.

However, (a) they were not up against Scotland when they were trying to get to the Far East, and, (b) slipping up once is likely to have made them extra determined not to miss out on a second major finals running.

Since our play-off status was confirmed by Darren Fletcher (a genuine prospect) getting lucky and netting with his shin-pad against Lithuania last month, a wave of false optimism has swept the nation.

Yes, there has been an improvement in both commitment and level of performance from Berti’s boys in recent games.

Even during the defeat in Germany in September, the willingness to fight for the cause was admirable.

What was apparent then and again even in victory over the less-than-awesome Lithuanians, was a very plain fact — we are nowhere near good enough to expect to beat anything approaching a decent side . . . and Holland are definitely that.

Finishing second to Germany in our qualifying group has led to a willingness on the part of too many to paper over cracks.

The truth is, our group was arguably, in fact inarguably, the weakest of all the sections.

Despite that, we only limped into runners-up spot courtesy of young Fletcher’s fortuitous effort and the Germans beating Iceland in their final fixture.

That hardly provides sound reason for the kind of optimism and chest-beating bravado we have been witnessing over the past few days.

As well as a miracle, what is needed now is hope, not expectation, and cool heads, for what is likely to follow this false optimism is despair and knee jerk reactions.

Once this troubled campaign is finally over, and we are preparing to watch the finals on the box, the powers that be at the SFA need to sit down and carefully review the progress, or lack of it, since Berti Vogts took over.

Then they should send him packing.