After years of frustration it is becoming good to be a follower of the national football team again. Growing up watching the likes of Dalglish, Souness et.al. it seemed that Scotland would always be there or there abouts in the upper echelons of the international game. As the years went by a gradual decline, not helped by a tragic lack of funding from a London based government, saw the arrival of Berti Vogts and the darkest days were with us.

This week however has seen two very different but impressive performances. The 6-0 hammering of the North Atlantic Islanders would not have been a surprise in the good old days but of late Scotland has been under a Curse of the Faroes. It will not be expunged until we beat them comprehensively in Toftir but on the evidence of the imaginative forward play on evidence last saturday the Curse should finally be put to rest.

Even more impressive was the away win in Lithuania. Walter Smith has again got his tactics spot on. With our slow defenders needing extra cover facing a skillfull side he again went for 3-5-1-1 on the road. It worked despite the unbelievably and typically Scottish bad luck of losing both Mcfadden and Quashie to first half injuries. It was a performance that was most about hard work and team spirit against a very good side that will take points of everybody else apart from Scotland. However, for me, two players stood out as being exceptional. In midfield Fletcher was immense in his passing and vision. And further forward Kenny Miller troubled the defenders every time. It was a travesty when he was booked and will miss the France game.

A big question that Walter Smith will have to answer is if Barry Ferguson deserves an automatic starting place next month assuming he has fully recovered from his surgery. Congratulations in the meantime to David Weir on captaining the side during his 50th cap. He will now enter the SFA Hall of Fame.

Next month the competition gets tougher, but for the moment let the good times role. The decline has been officially halted and Henry and Shevchenko quake in their boots.

I must also mention the continuing improvement in the tennis played by Andy Murray. If he keeps making this consistent progress we will be celebrating a Scottish winner of the US Open next year. Nice wristband Andy !