Serious hat on for a second.
Scotland is a footballing backwater. And the tragic thing is, it really, really shouldn't be.
It is a country stuck firmly in the past. The mindset in this country, considering it is home to two of the "winningest" club sides in the history of the sport, is nothing short of fucking diabolical. If the nation as a whole could channel the big baws mindset that these clubs typically have had when it comes to their standards, we'd actually get somewhere. Neither Rangers fans, or even the tims, tolerate this garbage at their clubs - and never have. I'm not usually one to include the tims in this because its probably a compliment but if the country as a whole had the standards and demands that the Old Firm fans have of their clubs, our football culture would improve beyond belief.
We certainly wouldn't be celebrating bang average shot stoppers like David Marshall as if they are heroes. We wouldn't be giving our 50th in a row "jobs for the boys" appointment in the dugout which is doubtless another dinosaur drafted in from the lower leagues in England or from one of the diddy clubs in Scotland. We wouldn't be playing guys based on loyalty or who their mates are or what club side they play for. We wouldn't be turning a blind eye to the corrupt and incompetent governance of football in this country. We wouldn't be celebrating "just being there".
A lot of the blame lies with the support, and when I say the support, I actually mean the ones who ONLY support Scotland and no club side, the ones who support the diddy clubs, the ones who support English teams, and the ones who only show up for big games and don't care about football during the regular season. These people have dominated the Scotland support for too long and their mindset has crept in to the very fabric of football in this country. Acceptance of mediocrity, romanticism about "glorious failure", happy with participation, glorification of average performances, and turning a blind eye to incompetence.
I could do a similar post about the problems in the SFA and the general attitude to playstyle and coaching but every Rangers fan already knows about the debilitating problems of the SFA. However the root of it all is the culture and mindset, which starts and ends with the punters watching. It is no coincidence that we have languished and been routinely embarrassed, meanwhile Sweden, Croatia, Finland, Iceland, Wales, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czechia, Denmark, Belgium, NI, ROI, Greece and others have thrived in comparison - in many cases with lesser players.