Sic A Parcel O Rogues

ROBERT Burns's opinion on the Scottish signatories to the Act of Union of 1707 has come to define our view of our national leaders. Between that and: "Him - a kent his faither", I'm sometimes surprised anyone take on a position of power and authority in Scotland. Then, you chat to your local Labour councillor and you realise, Scotland is a lunatic asylum which the inmates took over long ago.

For many of us and you can count me in on this, the biggest loonie bin is the Executive Corridor at Hampden. Here, just yards apart, the high-heid-yins of the various septs of Clan Caledonia sit behind their drawbridges, each doing his or her level best to ensure that his wee but an ben is THE most important fiefdom in the national game.

Here in Ayrshire we have a proud tradition of electing the village idiot onto the local junior team's committee, just onto the committee of course - we're not that daft (except in Cumnock) as to give the VI even a touch of power.

But, up at Hampden - they make him president.

Across in Edinburgh, at the SRU, they do things differently. Now let me say, the SRU have their mad moments, but, to climb the slippery pole to the good jobs at Murrayfield - you HAVE to have a knowledge of rugby, a feeling for the game and some intelligence. These are not attributes we can pin on everyone at Hampden.

Just this week Andy Irvine was appointed Chairman of the Magner's League, he is also Chairman of the British and Irish Lions. The current SRU president is Ian "Beastie" McLauchlan (forget the Mighty Mouse, to those of us who suffered pain at his hands, he will always be Beastie) - another of the legends of Scottish rugby as captain and British Lion.

When Irvine and McLauchlan speak, the world listens. When George Peat speaks, does anyone notice.

Of course, rugby, in spite of professionalism and the money washing around it, is still basically a game for the players - football hasn't been able to say that for generations.

We might have laughed at the likes of Burnley's Bob Lord or wee Willie Harkness of Queen of the South. Sure, these guys made mistakes, but, they cared about their local teams and the game of football.

Increasingly these days, the guys running the game (and by this I mean the people with real power, the owners and directors, not the managers, who are mere pawns) see footbal only as an investment opportunity or a club as a billionaire's play thing.

And that's why the game is in a mess.