What Scotland's Saying

Morning edition

Scotland wakes this morning with one eye on America and the other on its own institutions, and neither view is entirely comfortable.

The World Cup occupies most of the available hope. There is genuine pride in how the Tartan Army is regarded abroad — the reputation for goodwill and colour built over decades of tournament attendance without the accompanying anxiety of expectation. Whether that reputation survives contact with $660 match tickets is a separate question. Ordinary supporters are finding the arithmetic does not work.

On the pitch, the mood is cautious. Haiti's forward line has made clear, with some confidence, that Group C will not be settled quietly. Elijah Just, who knows Scottish football from the inside, has added his own warning that underestimating Haiti would be a mistake the squad cannot afford. Heat and squad cohesion are widely understood as the variables Steve Clarke cannot fully control.

Off the pitch, the news from Edinburgh is worse. The Court of Session's contempt finding against the Scottish Government — for failing, repeatedly, to disclose documents in the Salmond case — has landed with the weight of something long suspected now formally confirmed. Separately, the £660,000 independence fund continues to generate questions that the SNP has not yet found adequate answers to.

Zander Murray's remarks on homophobia and the manosphere's reach into football grounds were heard, and taken seriously, by more people than might once have been the case.

The national mood is alert, undeceived, and not quite sure where to look first.