Another international football tournament and another example of the kind of disorder involving England and Serbia fans that we hoped was a thing of the past.

The Prime Minister was also prompted to urge followers of his national team to avoid singing tasteless chants about German casualties in the two world wars during Euro 24 matches. There was no requirement for John Swinney to make similar entreaties to Scotland fans in Germany.

While supporters of other nations turn to anger or bravado when they are losing, the Tartan Army resorts to self-deprecating humour.

As Scotland pulled a late consolation goal back in their 1-5 thrashing by Germany last Friday, Scotland fans taunted their hosts with a rousing rendition of “You’re not singing anymore”.

It would be funny if it were not such a tragic reflection of how, in so many areas of public life, Scotland has become a parody of self-endorsed failure.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke (Image: free)

The way the Tartan Army cheerfully accepts sporting humiliation is a backhanded acceptance that, whatever glory days we once enjoyed, are now firmly in the past and, without significant and meaningful change, in the past they must remain.

There was a time when the greatest accolade that could be bestowed upon Scotland was to be told that we punch above our weight. Now we cannot even lay claim to that distinction.

Our sporting disappointments are linked to poor performance in lots of other areas, including the economy, business, international education comparators, health outcomes, arts, and science.

In virtually every area, the way we deal with setback and underachievement is confused, short-termist and defeatist. The greatest frustration for the many people who work hard,........

© Herald Scotland