On Saturday Justin and I saw Latvia beat Iceland 4-0 in a Euro 2008 qualifier. The match was at the Skonto Stadium, home of one-time UEFA Cup conquerors of Aberdeen, Skonto Riga.

Latvia played very solidly and were well-organised, no doubt encouraged by the energetic home fans packed into the relatively small stadium. Iceland, who regularly punch above their weight in international football, were very disappointing and defended appaulingly.

We discovered afterwards, by text message, that Scotland had achieved a historic result by beating France 1-0 in Glasgow, which rounded off a great evening’s football. Tonight, however, Scotland lost 2-0 in Kiev against a good Ukraine side. Ukraine probably deserved their win, despite some dodgy refereeing, but Scotland are still placed excellently in their group – joint top with France and with 3 wins out of 4 matches.

Quite a turn-around for the Scotland team in recent months – from no-hopers to serious contenders for qualification in a group containing a World Cup quarter-finalist and two finalists. Is the resurgence down to the fact that we now have a decent manager in Uncle Walt? Or is it just because the SFA have finally put Gaelic text on the shirt?

What do you think?