Year Two the Tango By Donald C Stewart

Date: 11th September 2026

Year Two the Tango

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…

There is a phenomenon in the music industry – the difficult second album syndrome. This happens when a band gets massive success from their first album and then they struggle to repeat that success. The reason is all too obvious. By the time a band has got a record deal and is able to get into a studio they have built a reputation live which translates into a very firmly well enhanced and prepared series of songs that have been out on the road and put in front of audiences for weeks, months, if not years before they manage to get into a studio. At that point, they are simply showing all their best work in front of everybody. Gaining a profile means that everybody devours their first album and then is desperate for a second iteration.

They then get studio time but have no songs… often it ends in disaster.

they struggle, their fan base doubts them, their management team think they are a flash in the pan, and they disappear off the edge of a cliff. As people start to doubt whether or not they were as good as everybody first thought the usual thing happens, you’ve heard that all before, artistic differences then and the band slowly begins to disintegrate.

Motherwell FC. A difficult second season? Did the first season flatter to deceive? They were the best footballing side in the UK, as some claimed…

Of course, the problem for all clubs, the size and stature of Motherwell is that as soon as their manager manages to do something very good, everybody takes notice and then starts to track them. Eventually an approach is made and Bob’s their uncle rather than yours and you’re left with Fanny being your aunt. And unfortunately, your aunt is not quite as good as your uncle in the dugout.

Or are Motherwell FC bucking the trend? When the club lost Jens Bertel Askou they brought in a Dane who has had a similar impact – Alfred Johansen. Unbeaten in four premiership matches, and I write this, as well as losing a number of the mainstays of Askou’s side whilst bringing 11 new players in, this 35-year-old has managed to transform Motherwell from that flash in the pan into a serious footballing team in the Premiership.

So, who else can claim they too can walk on water the second year in and who needs that level of magic to stay in post until June 2027?

The most obvious man who never looked back is at Falkirk and John McGlynn. He’s brought the Bairns from League One in a stratospheric rise into the top league.

But what about the current crop?

What will Neil McCann have to deliver in his second “season” at Kilmarnock? His first season was short but successful towards the end of it when he was getting win after win for his Kilmarnock side making sure that the Ayrshire men rose from the bottom of the Scottish Premiership. Now, apart from taking on BBC Sportsound reporters who dare question Killie’s defensive record, because they’re being pummelled regularly, will he turn it around?

And what about St Johnstone? Their first season under their Simo Valakari saw relegation. Their second season saw a championship-winning side, what will their third season bring? It may not be a second season for them, but it is a second season in the Premiership. Is it going to be any different?

Stephen Pressley will also have some of that judgment brought to bear upon them. Pressley is the more likely to walk down Tannadice Street right now with confidence, but never being first choice weight heavily…

Of course, like McCann at Killie, St Mirren and Aberdeen have got new managers in place who might not get a full season to come good.

The one who might miss out on such scrutiny? Saint Martin of O’Neill… But will he need a double, or maybe a double heart bypass to get another year out of Celtic?

The pressure is on and this is like a broken kettle as opposed to a broken record that the second time round is not always a charm. As people start to put their bets on who they think is likely to lose their jobs as the Premiership gets underway, who’s to know? Who knew that Livingston would be the first to ditch their man before going Back to the Future with David Martindale…

Picture Homes of Football

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Tags: Kilmarnock, motherwellfc, oor Donald, Scottish fans, St Johnstone