What Scotland's Saying

This morning's public mood, synthesised

The Tartan Army is in Boston, and Boston appears genuinely moved. Reports from Fenway Park describe scenes that locals are placing among the finest the stadium has witnessed in living memory — a claim that carries weight given the venue's history. Scotland's supporters have, once again, made the stronger impression abroad than the scoreboard tends to permit.

Friday's group match against Morocco focuses the mind. Lyndon Dykes is expected to start, which offers both reassurance and a certain held-breath quality to the anticipation. A Glasgow McDonald's screened a World Cup match live this week — the first UK outlet to do so — and Vue cinemas are preparing to carry the remaining group games. Scotland, it seems, is learning how to watch itself collectively.

The University of Dundee has announced a further 190 redundancies, following the 675 that preceded them. The cumulative figure now stands at a scale that is difficult to absorb quietly, and those inside the institution are not absorbing it quietly.

Ruth Charteris KC will become Scotland's next Lord Advocate, succeeding Dorothy Bain KC. The appointment has been received as considered rather than surprising.

In Edinburgh, two men have been sentenced for a firebombing directed, it is alleged, from Dubai. The distance between the instruction and the act did not trouble the court's conclusions.

Scott Arfield has left Livingston after three matches in charge. Some tenures resist elaboration.

The national mood this morning is one of bifurcated attention: one eye on a stadium in Boston, the other on things closer, and harder, to look at.