But who'll blink first and will it come to a shoot-out before sanity prevails?

The sports psychologist Tom Lucas offers the theory that a kind of class war is at the root of the current problem.

His suggestion is that referees, in the main, are drawn from the professional classes while the players, by and large, are the hewers of wood and the drawers of water.

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That means, he says, a simmering resentment at young working class men earning the kind of wages that the lawyers and accountants and others from a professional background, who some claim disproportionately represent the whistling fraternity at top levels, may not enjoy themselves.

Lucas further adds that there is a lack of deference from a younger generation of players, something familiar to parents and all of us over the age of 40, for one's supposed betters, which rankles with officialdom.

You may or may not agree with his theory, but while a state of anarchy may not be just around the corner, Craig Levein is right to raise his concern that steps must be taken by all parties to avoid a "them and us" situation developing.

Communication breakdown is a great track on a Led Zeppelin album, (those under the age of 20, ask your mum or dad) but it's not an ideal situation for the good of football.

Refs, managers and players have to start regular get-togethers to try to understand each others' points of view, and each others' jobs.

Accusations that refs haven't played the game so don't understand it, won't wash. I'm no plumber but I know when my sink's blocked.

The notion that referees can't distinguish between a bad and a mistimed tackle is stretching the limits of credibility.

However, they can and do misinterpret players' intentions on occasion, and then players, managers and fans react with fury.

Football people, and I include journalists, must start to learn the laws of the game. We can't criticise referees for the application of laws if we fail to understand what the law is in the first place.

Regular visits by top refs to the clubs and regular dialogue between refs and football people has to happen and happen frequently.

We've lost too many good experienced referees in the last few years because of a ludicrous and arbitrary age limit.

Stuart Dougal, Willie Young, John Underhill and others, could defuse an explosive situation instantly with a quiet word or, in Willie's case, a raucous turn of phrase.

The rapport and respect for men of that ilk has not yet been won by some of the newer officials. They need to earn it, in some cases by lightening up a bit and by showing more common sense and street savvy in a game where mortgages and livelihoods can rest on one bad decision.

But, there must be a quid pro quo. Modern top referees are fitter than before, have nutritional, psychological advice and more on tap, yet their job is becoming almost impossible.

TV angles everywhere illuminate contentious decisions made in a nanosecond and almost inhuman levels of perfection are demanded of them.

Some people make the case that a poorer quality of player in the modern game has lessened the ability to time a tackle and that some players don't realise that their rash challenges are unacceptable.

Some suggest that great players of yesteryear could read game situations so well that they didn't even have to make a tackle in the first place.

Whatever the truth is, referees and managers and players must find a way to talk to each other before the Gunfight at the OK Corral is re-enacted.

As the refs' head honcho in Scotland, Hugh Dallas has to get leading football bosses round a table to thrash this one out. Football will be the better for it.

All three are articulate, media savvy and thoughtfully opinionated in their musings on the game. They ally their football experience with an understanding of social trends and change, and a readiness to embrace these, whether it be in re-working youth systems, their managerial techniques, or their willingness to challenge a cosy media consensus.

Similarly, a new breed of supporter has been patiently working to ensure that the old order of Scottish football must accept change.

Along with his fellow Trust members, he must now be gratified to witness a much more bolshie side to the Rangers support, as the fans contemplate a buyout.

Presumably, they've concluded that they can make no worse a job of running the club than those who got it into the current mess.

But highly intelligent managers and highly qualified fans alike face some serious opposition. They are often too sharp and too clever by half according to those who currently run the game and whose power is threatened by those inclined to a more open, democratic and accountable approach.

For the three managers mentioned and others emerging of a similar ilk, the game's ruling bodies and, indeed, even some referees and members of the media, may see them as too much of a threat to the status quo and that marks them out as dangerous and unpredictable.

All three have been eloquent and vocal in defence of perceived wrongs against their clubs and, while those in authority bristle at criticism, in a healthy and mature democracy, a concept often alien to Scotland, it is a welcome and overdue development.

For organised fans groups, too, there is a danger. They threaten the power base of some who instinctively feel it is their birthright to run clubs or organisations like the Scottish FA, Scottish Premier League, or Scottish Football League as personal fiefdoms and who respond with arrogance and disdain to fresh and innovative thinking.

But the good news is that intelligence will win out.

In a world of modern communications, the truth shall indeed set you free if you are a manager or a supporter ready to challenge the established order.

Football fans now communicate instantaneously and, in a world of Twitter, email and You Tube, the football establishment is open to a scrutiny never before endured.

Information is shared in an instant around the football community and there is no hiding place for duplicity.

The old football order will fight to the death, but "the times they are a changin", as Bob Dylan said, and football will have to change with them.

The blustering buffoons who rant and rave and foam at the mouth from the sidelines have to be driven out and stripped of their tracksuits if our game is to advance.

They exist at all levels, but particularly in the younger age groups, their bullying, bug-eyed, foul-mouthed tirades, dressed up as motivational coaching, are a damaging disgrace which the SFA must stamp out.

Parents and the players are too frightened to complain about the bully boys, because the consequences are simple and chilling. The rule of the touchline tyrant has always been the same... "My way, or the highway".

Any attempt at reproach or discussion with the type of coach who screams, shouts and generally behaves like a former Eastern bloc dictator, is met with a ferocious response.

An unknown and anonymous individual does not give the opportunity for the guilty to present a false face. So let's set football's Secret Shoppers to work, prowling the touchlines to drive the unacceptable coaches from the game.

One father told me recently of a well known coach at professional level who publicly rebuked an effort on goal by a 15-year-old player, yelling a tirade of foul language from the sidelines in full hearing of everyone.

That kind of behaviour is out of order with young players at any level, whether it be professional or Sunday league. But the truth is it happens in professional football, junior football, and youth football.

The are a great many good coaches. The patient coaches, the hard-working, dedicated coaches, have nothing to fear. These coaches are creative and educative and impart a sense of worth and fulfilment to young players and parents alike.

The rogue coaches do harm not only to their own players, they do immeasurable damage to the good coaches too, since they get tarred with the same brush.

Those whose only talent is to scream, shout, and destroy, have no place in our game, and if takes the footballing equivalent of a Secret Shopper to ensure that damaged coaching goods are taken off the shelves.

Scottish football will be a much better place for it.

Those standing for office should have to provide CVs and a business plan before they seek to run our game. If you seek high office, you should be prepared to put on record what experience and track record you have to do the job.

And if you have none, you shouldn't be there.

You should also have to put up for public consumption your proposals for your time in office, outlining your plans for improving and bettering the game, both in terms of the football and financially.

As long as a penny of public money goes towards youth development or any other area run by the Hampden hierarchy, then there should be a transparent and open audit process.

The recent list of SFA council members' expenses shows that some members received £4.60 pence per mile to travel to Hampden on SFA business - £4.60 per mile for a five-mile journey? Nice work if you can get it.

How does that relate to the rest of the working world? How many of us pick up £23 for a five-mile trip to the office or building site?

After the "Boozegate" scandal, a vote of confidence for manager George Burley two months ago suddenly overturned, and a general lack of transparency, many fans are now asking whether the SFA is fit for purpose.

The old ways of doing things will no longer do. We need clear and accountable structures in line with modern business practices, and we need to know just who is in control.

Is it the president George Peat? The chief executive Gordon Smith? No-one really knows because the SFA is an unfathomable organisation.

Our national team's reputation sinks lower by the week and the standing of our game is in danger of becoming a by-word for complacency and neglect.

We have to get a new manager in to turn round our fortunes, but first we have to sort out the men who have got our national game into this mess.

In the French Revolution the aristocracy lost their power and their heads: the SFA too needs a revolution.

They can keep their heads but they'll have to sacrifice their blazers.

Soon it might be joined by another plaintive howl. "Get your season tickets here, going cheap, no reasonable offer refused."

The Old Firm are currently trying to entice punters to part with their hard earned cash, offering special deals on season tickets.

In the wake of the English Premier league's snub to the Glasgow pair, times are hard and liable to get harder as far as extra revenue raising goes.

The spectre of falling crowds and income is a real and live issue for Celtic and Rangers both.

With Scottish coefficients likely to change in the near future because of poor European performances, the Old Firm duo could find their road to Champions League football much rockier than in the past.

The question may be, have Celtic and Rangers peaked, and are their great days behind them?

Suddenly, what many in the SPL regarded as bumptious Old Firm whining that they were too big for the domestic game and needed to swim with bigger fish in a bigger pond, has been drowned out, leaving them to flounder in the shallows of the Scottish game for the foreseeable future.

Indeed, it may be back to the future for both clubs. While flogging their season tickets at the Barras may be an unlikely prospect, both seem likely to face a future of reduced income from that source.

And they will have to explore better marketing techniques or reduced admission prices, if they are to maintain the size of crowds they've become accustomed to.

Simple supply and demand economics are at play here. Too many seats for sale, not enough demand to buy them.

So, sports socks three for a pound anyone? The customer is now king, and his or her money cannot be taken for granted in the current economic climate.

Reduced income equals reduced wages, equals reduced quality. And while other SPL clubs face similar problems, none have built their supporter base anywhere as high as the Old Firm. So there is much further to fall for the great Glasgow rivals.

All of which could be good news for the rest of the SPL.

Managers like Craig Levein, John Hughes and Mark McGhee would be delighted to have the problems of their Old Firm counterparts.

These guys and the rest of the SPL bosses can only dream of being able to pay 10 and 12 grand a week to players, and yet this season in particular, as one half of the Old Firm cannot and the other half will not pay to bring in the quality of player of yesteryear, the gap between Celtic and Rangers and the rest looks much less daunting than in the past.

SPL chief executive Neil Doncaster has said any change in the top flight must benefit all clubs and not just one or two interests. He is right of course, and the game needs to look afresh, and collectively, at how it sells what is still potentially a very fine 'product'. (how I hate that word when applied to the beautiful game).

With our two football behemoths suddenly facing the kind of problems that the rest of the SPL have been beset with, sympathy for their plight is likely to be limited.

Indeed those who have been told constantly that without the Old Firm they would be like the League of Wales, may now adopt a bolder and harder nosed approach to dealings with them, in order to benefit the many, not the few.

With winter's chill winds approaching, it'll need something special to entice missing fans back to Ibrox and Celtic Park. Reduced prices will help, and so will a cosy pair of socks for those cold Saturday afternoons.

They're going cheap at the Barras, apparently.

With Dundee United and Dundee riding high in their respective leagues, the future looks bright for both, but could it be even rosier if the two city rivals combined their resources?

It was a Kilmarnock fan who asked me the question recently in a spirit of openness and mischief-making. His other suggestion was that Auchinleck Talbot should join with Ayr United to create a Super League junior club.

Nevertheless, the issue is worth examining, because it's one that's often seen by those outside the city as a cure for some of the ills that afflict the two Dundee outfits.

There are pros and cons to the debate.

Let's deal with the 'potential' upsides first. In theory, the crowds of the two clubs would be aggregated. United's average crowd at this early stage of the season is around 7,700, while Dundee have been pulling in over 5,000 at Dens Park.

In theory then, a joint city side could attract crowds of around 12,000 to 13,000 for home games. A highly successful side could probably add another couple of thousand to that figure, thereby matching anyone outside of the Old Firm at the turnstiles.

A shared stadium would reduce current outlay and maximise revenue - and one team would require just one training facility.

Meantime, advertisers and sponsors might be more inclined to back a joint city side, while the city council, which in the past has been reluctant to back one side for fear of offending the other, could find ways to lend support without any accusations of favouritism.

Add to that other economies of scale in terms of a shared merchandising outlet, one set of catering facilities, ticketing arrangements, etc, and the pros appear to mount.

However, football isn't rational. Economics are one thing, passion and tradition are another and they take no account of what might or might not make good business sense.

There is no guarantee that the two sets of supporters would simply combine their numbers and go to see the new city team, a club without the history and tradition to sustain fans through the bleak periods, which are the reality for most supporters outside of Celtic and Rangers.

In fact, it's possible that a new merged side could be less than the sum of its parts. As fans recoiled at the notion of having lost a part of themselves, a new team could attract fewer fans jointly than either did separately.

There is also no guarantee that a merged side would make any more impact on Old Firm dominance than sides like Aberdeen, Hibs and Hearts currently do.

Even before you decide which colour of strip to play in, which players will be kept and, crucially, what name the new merged side would adopt, there is one huge and burning question that would be critical to any possible success. Where would the team play ?

Neither side's fans would accept a move to their greatest rival's ground. Tannadice and Dens Park are non-starters. The leaving of the spiritual home to set up camp at the enemy's abode would be like swallowing a cyanide capsule for diehard Blue Noses and Arabs.

A new stadium then. Great idea, but who pays. The value of the two Dundee grounds combined would be between £3m-£4m in the current depressed land market. A new stadium might cost anywhere between five and seven times that figure. That's before you count the £6m of debt that United are carrying and the fact that Dundee don't even own Dens Park to sell.

History too plays a huge part here. United and Dundee have changed dramatically in the last few decades. There was a time when United were the smaller by some way of the two city clubs. In those days, a great many fans were happy to traverse the two grounds, watching a free-flowing Dundee at Dens in the top league and then paying one and sixpence to watch United at Tannadice in the old B division the next week.

They would have their favourite team, of course, but saw little wrong in lending support to the neighbours who were no real threat to them.

That changed dramatically when United emerged as a serious force to rival Dundee, firstly under Jerry Kerr in the 1960s and then rising to become the city's prominent team under Jim McLean.

I think that's when battle lines were drawn. For the first time, United were a serious and potent threat to Dundee's dominance and a harder-edged relationship between the fans emerged.

Dundee had their glory years in the sixties, winning the league and making the semi-final of the European Cup. United's great years came later, also reaching the European Cup semi-final, a Uefa Cup final and winning domestic honours.

That set in train a different dynamic for the relationship between the fans of the clubs and, as a result, makes any hope of a merger an almost impossible one to sell.

It has been talked about in the past and, on at least one occasion, was only a signature away from happening. The fact that it didn't happen tells its own story.

The first city derby in five years will have been played by the time you read this. It's ostensibly a friendly to raise money for youth development. In truth, though, it will convey bragging rights to one side or the other until they meet again.

A merged city side might make sense to a business student, but to Arabs and Blue Noses alike, it would signal the death of their club, which no artificial reproduction could ever replace.

Dundee and Dundee Utd will, I think, be around for a long time yet.

With Dundee United the latest club to admit that they need help from the bank, the plight of the full-time clubs in particular is grievous. However, the debt problem afflicts clubs of every shape and size.

Many have been paring back their expenditure for a few seasons now and are trying hard to live within their means.

They've been caught cold, though, with the collapse of Setanta.

Having budgeted for income that has suddenly been withdrawn, they are struggling to pay off debts rashly accumulated in a period of fiscal insanity a few years back.

The banks have had substantial taxpayers' assistance themselves and many of them have shown greater profligacy than our football clubs. So it would be rich of them, having been saved by taxpayers money, to tighten the noose and threaten clubs that are the focal point of communities all over Scotland.

Football needs a break just like every other business needs a break. The banks are in a position to give them that break. The quid pro quo for the game, though, has to be the solemn and binding promise that it will live within its means from now on.

And the bulk of clubs have been trying to do exactly that in recent times.

Fans have a huge part to play in the new reality that Scottish football must grasp.

There needs to be a more realistic view when it comes to demands for new and big signings - and a bit more patience as managers try to build squads instead of calling for the manager's head after few bad results. All that does is cost their clubs money that could be better spent elsewhere rather than on compensation.

But some managers and directors too have to be braver. Clubs have to give youth a chance and directors have to give managers who give youth a chance a chance themselves.

The worst financial mistakes are hopefully behind the game. It would be ironic but also very dangerous for any bank to put clubs under unbearable financial pressure while honest attempts are being made to sort out their problems.

Jim Murphy, the Scottish Secretary, has made representations to the bank over the financial problems presently facing Rangers. He needs to knock heads together, call for a meeting of all concerned parties and make sure that all of Scotland's clubs are given a fresh chance of a fresh start.

With former First Minister Henry McLeish's new and reportedly radical proposals to reshape the Scottish game due in January, this is the perfect time to save and then reinvent our national sport as fit for purpose in the years ahead.

A lifelong Aberdeen fan, the multi-millionaire responded to the Dark Blues' newspaper advertisement for new investors and Dundee found themselves with a man of sufficient means to ensure that they have out-spent Rangers in the transfer market this season.

Melville, who is listed at being worth around £130m, has been a whirlwind of activity since walking through the doors of Dens Park.

Dundee, previously cash-strapped, snapped up top players from their First Division rivals, like Leigh Griffiths from Livingston and Gary Harkins from Partick Thistle, for a combined outlay of £250,000.

He has also has not been shy of offering opinions, noising up neighbours United, with claims that Dundee are the bigger of the two city sides.

The fuss will be a seven-day wonder, and will blow over, albeit with relations between the clubs currently as poor as I can remember.

The key question for Dundee fans though is this. Is Calum Melville the real deal?

Dundee were once the city's establishment club. In the 1950s they had the richest board of directors in the Scottish game.

Since then, their fortunes have been like the Blackpool big dipper. A revolving door saw a succession of owners like Angus Cook, Ron Dixon and The Marr brothers, presiding over a roller coaster ride for the fans, ultimately ending with the club in administration.

Dundee fans, through the Dee for Life campaign, fought and organised with passion and stoic commitment to save their club, and now hope and believe they have a man with the ambition and drive, but most of all, the money, to restore their fortunes.

Melville, lives in Aberdeen. That insulates him from fans if things go badly, yet he also risks losing touch with the feelings of those supporters by not occupying the same day-to-day space.

For the moment, it is academic. Dundee are flying high - top of the First Division and attracting regular crowds of over 5,000.

For Melville and the long-suffering Dens faithful, life is good. Promotion to the SPL would make it infinitely better and bestow hero status on him as a Dark Blues legend.

As the dark nights draw in and the wild winter winds whistle round our ankles, two defeats in two big games should chill Scottish football fans to their very souls.

Forget Rangers' undoing by Unirea and Celtic's humbling at the hands of Hamburg, the two defeats which leave me with that icy feeling are our under-17 side's defeats by Cyprus and Georgia in the Uefa Under-17 Championship qualifiers.

So, why are we losing to these teams and how do we stop being frozen in time as the football equivalent of the Day After Tomorrow looms for us?

Let's be clear on one thing: Scottish kids are not any less potentially gifted than their foreign counterparts so something is wrong and we need to fix it now.

Three things need to be addressed.

Firstly, winter is approaching. It's the wrong time play when you are trying to learn the basics. Ball control and passing will not be mastered in gales and torrential rain.

Kids need to play in the summer when surfaces are better and more conducive to getting good quality work done with the ball.

How can we expect our youngsters to develop dribbling and passing skills in such conditions?

Secondly, the quality and size of pitches needs to be addressed.

Younger kids, and particularly those stepping up from the seven-a-side game, are suddenly pitched into playing on full-size fields; the same ones which men's and women's amateur sides play on and churn up.

The poor quality pitches mean that kids, who have been used to a short game in sevens, where control and short passing in tight situations is required, are flung into an environment where the key skill is learning to boot the ball upfield as far as possible.

"Clear your lines" and "get us out of there" are phrases I regularly hear coaches yell.

We need intermediate-size pitches to allow the kids to step up gradually, at each level from seven to nine to 11-a-side games.

Thirdly, just what are we trying to coach?

After watching Ian Cathro's youth revolution taking shape at Tannadice, where the emphasis is on technique, two equally good feet and general all round skill, there was a shock admission by a more experienced coach.

The coach told me that he and others with 20 years experience behind them should be embarrassed by the difference in the quality of what Cathro is delivering and what has passed for coaching in much of the Scottish game.

The emphasis on physical strength and willingness to run all day has been to the detriment of developing the kind of skills which Messi and Iniesta at Barcelona have mastered to make football an art form.

Mind you, I can think of about a dozen coaches who would've turned those two down because they were too small in the first place.

So who is to blame?

No-one, appears to be the answer. There has been a lack of joined-up thinking which has led us to the stage where Cyprus and Georgia now beat us and we hardly raise an eyebrow.

But no-one appears to have direct control or responsibility for the game at grass-roots level.

We need someone with clout to grab the game at youth level by the scruff of the neck.

We need a football czar to tell those who are responsible for this mess to shape up or ship out.

If we don't act soon Scottish football will wither and die in the long-term.

So, we need the right man or woman to make the big decisions, unfazed by the opinions of committees and blazers. They've got us into this state, after all.

The government needs to make it clear there won't be a single penny of funding for football unless it gets its house in order.

Czars appointed in other fields haven't sufficient power to radically change things.

This time a football Czar must have the right qualifications for the job and must be given the power to lay down the law to force through the changes to restore the health of our game.

Never mind democracy and debate, the future of Scottish football is too important to leave to stuffy committees with their vested interests.

Let's make that appointment to start the revolution and save Scottish football.

Fast forward eight years and the Glasgow pair are still bemoaning their lot in their SPL prison cell, while claiming their escape hatch is close to being sprung.

Cynicism is an ugly emotion, so I'll dispense with it and admit that the Old Firm's eventual jail break to the financially sunny uplands of English football is not as fanciful as it sounds, nor as ruinous to the Scottish game as some would suggest.

If human nature follows its usual course of self interest, if money, as it normally does, determines behaviour, and if enough English clubs see financial advantage in it for themselves, then it could happen.

Then it will get interesting. Assuming the television revenue bubble does not implode in the next few years, and that seriously enticing extra revenues could be made for all concerned by admitting the great footballing duopoly of Glasgow, then the clubs may well decide to "have a square go" with football's current power brokers.

No dynasty lasts for ever and if the prize is big enough, then a legal challenge may be used to tackle football's rulers, assuming of course that those rulers do not first seek a face-saving compromise to head off a highly expensive court action which they could lose with the major clubs.

The bottom line is that if the big clubs really want change they will have their way. They have the financial muscle to ensure it.

The big question is whether the financial prize is big enough to make it worthwhile pursuing change.

While I suspect that many Manchester United fans are about as keen on watching the Wigans and Hulls of this world as many Old Firm fans are on welcoming half of the SPL clubs to their patch, the attraction in both a playing and financial sense has to stack up for the Red Devils and others, before the Old Firm receive an invitation to share their substantial English Premier League booty.

Just how much more is in it for a Liverpool or an Arsenal to play Celtic or Rangers instead of the aforementioned Wigan or Hull? We've heard Peter Lawwell explain what's in it for the Hoops, but what's in it for the English?

Top-flight English football does not necessarily want to hear the Celtic story unless it is accompanied by the ching-ching of big bucks.

Burnley, Wigan and Hull may welcome the large travelling support, but at Old Trafford, The Emirates and Anfield there is no room at the inn. "House full" notices are posted every week.

So just what is the marketing strategy of the Old Firm? What is it they think they bring to the party other than the intention to drink someone else's beer?

And if they do succeed in their break-out, why will the SPL fade and die?

Will the broadcasters and newspapers risk the wrath of communities all over Scotland who have no affection for the big two, by ignoring their football teams?

Will the regular 16,000 Hearts fans and 12,000 Hibs and Aberdeen fans disappear like snow off a dyke because the Old Firm no longer come calling?

Or will they revel in the chance of winning trophies on a regular basis in a surprisingly competitive and revamped SPL?

Even the smaller-supported clubs like Dundee United and Motherwell will not be outgunned by those better-supported clubs by anything approaching the financial factor of ten or twelve to one that they currently are by the Glasgow pair.

So a realistic push for honours could be much more widely spread. A new-found competitiveness could bring many fans back to watch a league which was no longer a two-horse race.

I accept that the big money currently on offer from ESPN will probably be diminished, but if the cloth has to be cut to face new financial realities, at least there might be a place again for more local players in the teams at Falkirk or Kilmarnock and others, which will strengthen the bonds between community and club.

Celtic and Rangers have grown beyond their own wildest dreams in terms of average crowds and income, and as businesses with shareholders they will seek to extract maximum profit.

They probably have outgrown the Scottish game and need to flourish elsewhere. A mutually agreeable divorce package with a short-term maintenance allowance might in the long run suit all parties.

But it needs to be a completely fresh start. No leaving Under-21 sides or reserve sides to compete this side of the Tweed.

If they are to go, the Scottish game should wish them all the best and prepare for its own bright new future.

Meantime, the Old Firm can prepare for trips to Rochdale, Scunthorpe and other footballing hotbeds of England's green and pleasant land, as they seek the holy grail of Champions League football, which will assuredly not come as easily to them as it has this past while.

Some cynics think the report will lie on a shelf gathering dust, but I think Mcleish intends to shake the game to the core.

The former First Minister was asked by the SFA to chair the Scottish Football Review Committee, but anyone who thinks that he will be some kind of patsy is likely to be nutmegged.

I chaired a conference at Stirling University on Monday, when he made the promise to deliver radical proposals.

His demeanour, body language and candour left me in no doubt that the former First Minister is deadly serious about the task of restoring Scottish football's once proud name.

McLeish is a football man and had a spell as a professional at East Fife. The game is in his blood and he wants to see it restored to good health in Scotland.

Those who fear another Ernie Walker think tank are, I suspect, mistaken.

If, after asking him to conduct and chair a review, the SFA, along with the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League then ignore his findings, they, not he, will suffer the PR fallout.

If, as he promised on a public platform in Stirling, his proposals will be transparent as well as radical then it is those who fail to put them into practice who will be held up to scorn and ridicule for holding our game back.

There is a groundswell of public opinion that I think Mcleish can tap into. Fans are asking questions and demanding answers on everything from youth football to winter breaks, from having fewer governing bodies to better facilities for kids playing the game.

I think McLeish's report may well capture the spirit of our times. Football fans are the lifeblood of the game and they want change.

Anyone standing in the way of that change may well find themselves facing a penalty shoot-out from supporters sick to the back teeth of perceived self-interest from those who see little wrong in our game and little reason to change things.

And, if football wants financial help from government and local councils, it will have to show that it is not stuck in a time warp and has something to give back to communities.

Having handed McLeish the ball, Scottish football's movers and shakers may find that, when he kicks off, they are in for an attacking onslaught.

That much is evident after a Dundee team, which has seen substantial summer investment, deservedly knocked the Dons out of the Co-operative Insurance Cup.

McGhee admitted his side's defensive performance was shambolic, while Pittodrie legend Joe Harper has accused the players of lacking the bottle for the big occasion.

Now chairman Milne must find the cash to allow his manager a fighting chance to compete in the Premier League.

Griffiths striking prowess knocked the Dons out of the cup, while midfielder Klimpl has the kind of bite not seen at Pittodrie since the days of Neale Cooper.

And the man who provided the funds to bring those players to Dens Park, Calum Melville, is a multi-millionaire life-long Aberdeen fan based in the Granite City.

Before the current recession, Milne had an estimated worth of £500m, and while a few quid may have since been shaved off that figure, there is surely still enough in the kitty to give Aberdeen fans a glimmer of hope.

Without cash to spend, McGhee will have to fight with one hand tied behind his back to compete with Dundee United, Hearts, Hibs and Motherwell, never mind posing a threat to the traditional Old Firm dominance.

The late Dundee United chairman Eddie Thompson threw half of his personal wealth at trying to rebuild the Tannadice club, and while a fair chunk of that money was spent unwisely, he understood that personal commitment went with the territory of being chairman.

Milne is worth perhaps twenty times what Thompson was, and while chucking money at a football club is not a long-term solution, sometimes it is a short-term necessity to stabilise the side and push them forward.

In the long run the Dons need to produce their own talent through their youth ranks and scouting system.

And youngsters Peter Pawlett, Michael Paton and Chris Maguire all outshone their more experienced team-mates after coming off the bench at Dens Park.

However, as the economist John Maynard Keynes said, "In the long run we're all dead".

So, when the transfer window opens in January, the Aberdeen chairman needs to ask himself just how deep his commitment to his club and manager goes.

If he can't or won't find the money to give McGhee a chance to rebuild the squad, the Dons fans are likely to stay away in increasing numbers, further limiting the straitened budget available to the boss.

McGhee enjoys legendary status among the Pittodrie faithful, who are willing to cut the new man some slack, but they are fast running out of patience with those at boardroom level.

The Hearts midfelder's second yellow was for a blatant foul from behind on Scott Robertson, leaving the referee no option but to dismiss him.

The Tynecastle skipper was quoted as saying: "There was no malice and I think there were far worse tackles on the pitch that went unpunished. All I was trying to do was get the team going by putting in a tackle or two. I thought we were a bit flat."

The only thing left flat in the event was the Dundee United midfielder, flat on his backside.

The Hearts man should have been disciplined enough to know his challenge would be judged reckless and would let his side and supporters down by reducing them to ten men.

It requires in other words special qualities. It's often confused with the need to be a hard man, when in fact being an intelligent man is more important.

Stewart is not only a potentially creative player, but is also an articulate and thoughtful one and he let himself and his side down on Monday.

The ability to lead by example, to cajole, to lift and rally the side; all go into the making of a good captain. Physical toughness and mental toughness in sport are inseparable twins, but for maximum effect they must be allied to clear and rational thinking in the thick of the scrap.

Red cards and reduced numbers are an admission of defeat.

Celtic's captain Gary Caldwell is another who has struggled to maintain the discipline required in white hot situations.

Against Arsenal game his needless foul and subsequent verbal nipping at Cesc Fabregas, who refused to be drawn by the defender's antics, cost his side dearly when the resultant free kick fortuitously deflected into the net.

Caldwell's two bookings and sending off for Scotland in the 4-0 defeat in Norway showed a similar lack of discipline through poor judgement and the game arguably turned on his red card for needless shirt pulling.

Along with all the many qualities to make it as a top flight footballer discipline is perhaps the most difficult to master, yet is utterly essential.

From the discipline required on the pitch, to the disciplines of diet, rest, and general pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, many players have fought and lost the unequal struggle.

As the game progresses, the old ways of the hard man, the sneering, curling bottom lip at decisions which don't meet with a player's approval, must go.

Being hard isn't being tough, being disciplined is being tough.

If they gave their best and were organised properly by the manager and still lost to a more skilful side, then we simply have to accept it.

The limitations of the squad are well-known and unless critics are suggesting they gave less than their all, were not sufficiently committed, or threw the towel in, then we should lay off them. They are what they are - hard working professionals.

While we may have to accept the limitations of the current squad though, what we do not have to accept is the continuing deterioration of our national game at international level.

As a country, we hugely underfund two minority sports in tennis and track cycling, yet in both, have two genuine world-class superstars in Sir Chris Hoy and Andy Murray.

Both had to leave behind dated Scottish facilities to train elsewhere but have become magnificent ambassadors for Scottish sport with the drive and ambition to beat the best in the world.

So why can we not produce even one player of world standing in football?

Well the good news is the Scottish Football Association, yes shock horror, the SFA, are trying to do something about it with director of football development Jim Fleeting driving changes in the way we operate at youth level.

Had the SFA board accepted some of his suggestions over the years then we may have been further down the road to curing some of the current ills of our football.

The bad news is we all need to look hard at ourselves in the mirror. Our football mirrors our society, and that is increasingly a society where a disproportionate number of us drink too much, eat too much, take little or no exercise and show little respect to those in authority such as referees, who in the amateur leagues regularly have to endure verbal and physical abuse.

That approach has a knock-on effect in our football. A lack of discipline, a lack of work ethic, a lack of drive and the mentality of chasing the money instead of enjoying the game proliferates.

Fundamentally though, we need to look at restoring the pure joy of the game to kids and to allow them to express themselves with their skills on the park.

We are a pretty unforgiving lot us Scots and our first reaction is to criticise and excoriate. We need to be gentler, less critical and more encouraging in order for young players to start to delight in their abilities again.

How many times have you heard a coach berate a player for taking a man on instead of passing? We need to ask whether on occasions we are coaching the joy out of the game for players. We should applaud not criticise when a bit of panache or style is shown by a youngster, even if it leads to a mistake.

The natural skills at a young level need to be re-taught. We need to stop banging on about the effect of the teachers' strike and the 'when I was a boy we put jackets down for goalposts' mentality. Those days are history.

Fans pay hard-earned money to watch players doing things they could only dream of doing themselves. We have to re-equip players with the skills to make going to the match a day of entertainment, comparable to going to watch a good film or a good band.

There is nothing in the Scottish water or gene pool that says our young players should be less gifted than those of any other country. Let the good coaches with new ideas loose. The creative coaches, the inventive coaches, the fun coaches.

It may be too late for the current generation of players but the next generation should be artists and entertainers as we rediscover the joys of the beautiful game.

On Wednesday 19 August on BBC Radio Scotland, 1900-2000, Jim Spence chairs a special debate with Craig Levein, Jim Fleeting and Bill Leckie on the future of our game in It's Broke, Let's Fix It.