Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…Scotland have another World Cup qualifier.
And just like when I watched Jaws terrorise the inhabitants of Amity Island on the telly when I was a youngster, there is a fear that most of Friday night’s game against Croatia will be watched from behind the couch.
Let’s be honest, when the World Cup 2014 qualifying draw was made, most Scotland fans thought we stood a realistic chance of being up there at least challenging for a play-off.
How wrong we were.
Six games, no wins and just two points later, the Tartan Army are already having to look ahead to the Euro 2016 campaign for some solace and it’s a sad state of affairs.
I still care, but the feelings have mellowed over the years.
I remember sitting watching Scotland play Morocco in our final game at France 98 our country’s last involvement at a major finals and just being plain angry as a team like Morocco horsed us 3-0.
The country had been whipped up into a frenzy after Brazil needed a Tom Boyd own goal to beat us 2-1 in our opener, before Craig Burley’s equaliser against Norway in the next game gave us a chance of finally making the later stages of a World Cup at just the eighth time of asking.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=dPpJ_sO0jv4%3Frel%3D0
All we had to do was beat Morocco and hope Norway would get no better than a draw against Brazil a combination that back then seemed more than plausible.
Saltires were hanging from most windows in my neighbourhood ahead of that game and the feelgood factor was well and truly back.
Until of course a brace from Salaheddine Bassir and a goal from Abedeljilil Hadda well and truly burst the ball.
And to make matters worse, Norway beat Brazil.
If you had told me that game against Morocco had been our last game at a major tournament for a generation, perhaps I would have savoured it more. Or maybe I would have laughed at the absurdity of the suggestion.
But the reality is that feelings of anger at Scottish failure have been slowly degraded over the years to frustration, resignation and now just plain acceptance.
Thirteen years ago, Scotland travelled to Zagreb and earned a superb 1-1 draw Kevin Gallacher cancelling out Alen Boksic’s opener to keep us five points clear of the Croats in our World Cup qualifying group.
Now though, we head to Croatia bottom of Group A with nothing but pride to play for after our hopes were dashed in speedy fashion, and the doom and gloom has become so ingrained in our national psyche that I’m now struggling to look for teams that we’d comfortably beat.
Try. There aren’t really that many, when you consider we needed a 97th-minute winner against lowly Liechtenstein in 2010.
However, the early exit from our World Cup campaign may just give the nation a glimmer of hope for the future and that’s why a positive showing is needed against Croatia this week.
Young guns like Leigh Griffiths, Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong will all be eager to shine if they get their chance and that’s perhaps what Scotland has been missing in the last few years.
These guys are all determined to play for Scotland and the country needs players who want to pour their heart and soul into the cause.
In all honesty, if you look hard enough and take into account guys missing this week’s trip to Zagreb, Scotland should have the makings of a decent enough side.
So let’s just hope that Gordon Strachan’s tinkering with the team over the coming games will provide the spark that could get the nation going again.
Or at least excited about watching Scotland again, rather than fearing the worst.