What Scotland's Saying

What Scotland's Saying

The mood this morning is split, as it tends to be when a country is simultaneously excited about a tournament and anxious about nearly everything surrounding it.

The question of a new kit appearing days before the World Cup begins has unsettled a section of supporters who consider this either brave commercial timing or a provocation. The debate is unresolved and likely to remain so.

A new patriotic song has emerged and is being spoken of with the kind of intensity usually reserved for genuine national events. Whether it displaces Flower of Scotland in the stands remains to be seen, but the appetite for something new is real and worth noting.

Those who made the considerable effort to travel to the United States are finding the atmosphere more complicated than anticipated. The political backdrop has sharpened the experience in ways that were not fully expected when tickets were booked.

Craig Gordon has spoken with unusual candour about the circumstances of Hearts' final-day defeat to Celtic, a match that cost his club third place in the Premiership. The anger he describes is specific and earned, not theatrical.

Philippe Clement's reported approach from Leicester City has drawn little mourning from those who watched his Ibrox tenure conclude poorly.

Nicola Sturgeon's visible distress in a recent interview about her husband's crimes has generated a quieter, more conflicted response than political commentary might suggest — sympathy and accountability sitting uncomfortably beside each other, which is where Scotland often finds itself.