Date: 22nd October 2026
A Bit Early
By Donald C Stewart
A sketchy and humorous look at the outpourings of the great, the good and the not so good of Scottish fitba’ by Donald C Stewart. Readers are warned that if they take this seriously then therapy is available – just let us know where you find it so we can pass it on to others…
In a recent interview, The Rangers’ boss Derek McInnes has suggested it is far too early to claim that The Rangers are putting pressure on the likes of Celtic and Hearts. The Rangers boss has found a moment of peace and renaissance to suggest that in the earlier part of the season it was far too early to judge him in terms of results for The Rangers.
Many of the Ibrox faithful had already sat in judgement suggesting that perhaps the job was too big for the likes of McInnes. This was despite a pedigree not only with the Hearts promotion challenge last year – the first time that anybody had seriously sought to threaten the duopoly at the top of Scottish football since the last time that Hearts had threatened the duopoly – or his time at Aberdeen, where he not only pushed both The Rangers and Celtic hard, but also brought home a cup and was in four finals.
So, it made me wonder just exactly what else in Scottish football and elsewhere is it too early to judge?
Is it too early to judge the alcohol in stadia that was brought in for the second leg of the Scottish Women’s National Team play-off World Cup tie against Czechia, which seems to have been hailed as a success?
Talking of national managers, perhaps it is also too early to suggest whether or not Sebastian Pocagnoli has the cut of the jib necessary to make an impact for Scottish football.
Is it too early to judge Stenhousemuir’s challenge to become a premiership football club? Should we wait at least another quarter to see if they have the stones to get themselves not just in a playoff space but also to keep that distance between them and a chasing pack.
Is it too early to judge a White House press secretary? Obviously not.
Is it too early to judge managers in general given that we are in October and yet there are casualties falling all over the place, the latest being at Dumbarton with Frank McEwan after a 4-0 drubbing from local rivals Clydebank? This was despite having been on a 4 win league spree in League Two in late September…
It might also be too early to judge that Dermond Desmond’s time at Celtic is up, given the amount of protests, innovative or not, that have been seen.
It is certainly not too early to judge VAR and whether or not it has provided us with what it promised.
Of course, the one area that for me it may well be too early to suggest is that it has been a success as otherwise is something not begun. Graeme Mathie, who has come from Ayr United, previously having been at Motherwell and Hibernian, is to take on the thorny issues of youth fitba and pathways. Too early to ask where we are with it? Whether it is a thistle that is too hard for one to grasp or the making of a career, it is certainly going to be one that plenty are going to be judged along the way about it.
Let’s hope it is a moment where things are going to come good and we’re going to see some real radical innovation as well as an opportunity to bring back some of the old hits like the Reserve Leagues. That would certainly give us an exceptional opportunity, in my view, to develop youth football and young players in a decent pathway.
Nevertheless, whilst McInnes might think it is too early to judge, we will always do exactly that. Why? Because football supporters are a fickle bunch and you can find fickleness on every terrace and every seat and every stadia, the length and breadth of Scotland every Saturday afternoon and Sundays and Mondays Tuesdays Wednesdays Thursdays Fridays all week in fact ain’t they blessed with us…
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Tags: Celtic, oor Donald, Rangers, scotland women, Stenhousemuir