No Scottish team has recorded victory in a single European fixture this season. The domestic game north of the border? Generally perceived to be at its lowest ebb in living memory. Youth players are below the standard required, coaching open to question. The solution? Let's bid for a major finals, or not as the case may be. For once, and whisper it, the Scottish FA is not the guilty party.
In a quiet news week, Uefa general-secretary David Taylor's assertion that Scotland may, and possibly could, host Euro 2016 has caused ructions. If you factor in the Welsh, that is. And given Poland and Ukraine's troubles, joint hosting is very much in vogue.
Glasgow's successful pitch for the 2014 Commonwealth Games seems to have prompted an idea among some that Scotland is also fit to host a major football tournament. Politicians, typically, jump on this bandwagon to be seen supporting all things Scottish. Uefa is likely to have other ideas if, and it is a big if, the Scots and Welsh decide to lodge a formal and hastily arranged bid in the new year.
First, the positives. Scottish football badly needs some kind of lift — though that may not be the case in eight years time — and the sight of Europe's top players strutting their stuff on these shores would surely be a source of inspiration for youngsters. Financially, there is obviously a benefit, even if the outlay for clubs in advance seems a bridge too far.
As it stands only Ibrox, Celtic Park and Hampden have a capacity of more than 30,000, the typical criteria for stadia in the home of a major finals. Murrayfield, the home of Scottish rugby, could be factored in at a push. That three of those grounds are in the same city, Glasgow, is hardly likely to curry favour with Uefa.
Tynecastle and Easter Road would be the obvious two grounds to redevelop. Aberdeen may have a new home, but why they would need one that holds 30,000 is anyone's guess. Kilmarnock? It already resembles a ghost ground with crowds regularly under 5,000 in a stadium that holds 18,000. Short-term benefit for these clubs in the form of the Euros would lead to embarrassing fortnightly sights thereafter.
Wales has similar problems, the Millennium Stadium aside. Cardiff City's new stadium at Leckwith will hold 26,000. The Liberty Stadium in Swansea has little more than 20,000 seats and there is no evidence of funding or desire to increase that number.
Quite simply, the numbers do not add up. Especially when the size of the tournament increases to 24 teams; 10 grounds are likely to be needed as a basic requirement. The Scots and the Welsh would toil to produce eight. As for infrastructure, Glasgow's city centre can and does grind to a halt on account of even a minor bump on the M8 motorway. Anyone who has travelled to watch football in Switzerland, a country of similar size, would notice a strategic world of difference.
The SFA has privately urged caution on this matter and rightly so. Now is the time to invest heavily in players and coaching, from the age of five upwards. Pipe dreams and European Championships can, frankly, wait for a while yet.
