Dom Will Find, At Times He Will Walk Alone In His New Job

 Picture courtesy of craig watson

 

DOMINIC McKAY off to Celtic, jings, crivvens, help ma Boab. Well, he is an Old Aloysian, so, in a way he is going home. I wish Dom well; we have had our disagreements over the years, but, he has always, unlike most of The Junta, been approachable, he has kept communication channels open, and, as far as I am concerned – of the paid executives on the main Board, Dom was the one with the functioning brain cell.

I have already dropped him a wee line, wishing him well, but, I feel he might have to recruit Chewin' the Fat's Rab McGlinchey, so he can communicate easily with the Green Brigade.

 

 

Dom might have to hire Wee Rab, here in the insert,

to communicate with the Green Brigade

He's made a good start, toeing the party line, telling the fans what they want to hear, by promoting the lie that he has joined Scotland's top team. Naw Dom, don't believe what the priests telt ye at St Al's – yer still Avis to the other lot's Hertz.

Dom's departure will perhaps mean a vacancy at HQ. But, I don't think, in the present climate, replacing him is an urgent priority. In fact, I wonder if we need a Chief Operating Officer, as well as a Chief Executive Officer.

His way-going will create a vacancy on the main board of the SRU, and that might, indeed I feel should be an excuse – since we apparently need four paid executives on that body – to promote Jim Mallinder, the Director of Rugby onto the board. In case The Junta has forgotten, they are a rugby body, so another full-time rugby man on the board would be no bad thing.

They could go down the road of advertising the post and going through a transparent recruitment process, but, hey, this is Murrayfield we are talking about – they are just-as/more-likely to find a pro-Junta patsy in a lesser job and promote him so they can try to keep control of the SRU Titanic.

REGULAR readers of this rubbish will be aware, I am not Jamie Bhatti's biggest fan. But, I do believe in praise when praise is due, and I certainly think, although John Afoa did him fair and square in his first scrum after he came on for Bath last night; thereafter, Bhatti had an impressive 20 minutes or so and definitely made an improvement to his team's forward game.

Well done Jamie, keep it up.

THE LATE Earl of Stockton – or Harold Macmillan as he was when UK Prime Minister in the 1950s and early 1960s, is remembered for three particular quotes:

1. His “Winds of change” speech.

2. His “You've never had it so good” speech.

3. His comment: “Events dear boy, events,” re the unpredictability of politics.

Events dear boy, events, are certainly coming into play in the delicate balancing act between Scotland's two full-time professional rugby teams. Of course, both Edinburgh and Glasgow are, if you like “nationalised industries.” And nationalised industries, by their very management model, tend not to keep their brightest and best for long – before they are attracted away to the private sector, where they will make more money – yes, that's you I'm talking about Dominic.

But, to get back to events. When Glasgow won the old PRO12 back in 2015, there were hopes that that might be the start of a consistent place at the top table, leading to better form in Europe.

Then, events conspired, not least the decision to promote Gregor Townsend to Scotland coach. The subsequent loss of Glasgow's two “X-factor” players, Finn Russell and Leone Nakarawa, plus the fact Dave Rennie, who replaced Townsend as Head Coach, failed to bring his coaching magic with him from New Zealand, rather put a damper on things, notwithstanding another Grand Final appearance in 2019.

The return of Nakarawa had the Warrior nation hoping his brilliance might get Glasgow back to the top, but, again, events – injury, family problems, Covid – conspired to make the hero's return less than heroic. Now, the big man is off to Ulster at the end of the season.

 

Not that I blame him, this may well be his last big-money move, so, fair play to him and his agent, and, his departure should create an opening for another young Scot. 

Somebody at Murrayfield really has to start influencing events, or I fear for Glasgow's future. However, the question has to be asked – do they really care about Glasgow? Because, a few of us here in the wild West are beginning to wonder about this.