THE threat of Estonia had little to do with the unmistakable scent of apprehension which filled the air around Scotland's headquarters yesterday.
Craig Brown, the manager. was much more unsettled by the prospect of further disciplinary action against his team. The normally imperturbable Brown believes that international referees are being turned into hyper-sensitive automatons by FIFA edicts and the forceful, pre-match verbal "reminders" from the world governing body's official observers.
The Scots have already lost their captain, Gary McAllister for tonight's match in the Kadriorg Stadium because of a second yellow card - following his first in the opening World Cup tie in Austria last month - received during last Saturday's 2-0 victory in Latvia.
McAllister's deputy. John Cottins, was also cautioned in Riga and a repeat tonight would cost him a place in the match against Sweden - unanimously regarded as Scotland's most formidable opponents in Group 4 at Ibrox on November 10th.
"I have no doubt that the instructions being issued now are more stringent than ever," said Brown. Last weekend, we overheard the FIFA delegate, Horst Brummeier of Austria, give the Czech referee, Ulrich Jiri a warning not to tolerate the slightest dissent or time-wasting.
"The delegate tomorrow is Jean-Marie Gantenbein of Luxembourg and he will doubtless appraise the referee, Miroslav Radoman of Yugoslavia, in the same way. We know they are simply doing their jobs as instructed and we start every match with faith in the officials.
But we will be warning our players to be very careful. We usually have trouble enough with injury call-offs from our group without adding suspensions. I'm convinced that the referees in this World Cup series will be even stricter than in the previous tournament and in Euro '96."
Curiously, Collins picked up a caution in the first qualifying match of the last European championship, against Finland in Helsinki, and managed to avoid another in the course of the next nine games, in which he was an ever-present. The Monaco mid-fielder tonight will be in charge of a team with two central defenders, five across the middle and three strikers, a formation which indicates Brown's determination to overcome Estonia's reliance on almost relentless defending.
Brown's only selection dilemma concerns the middle three, who will not be finalised until the fitness of Rangers' Stuart McCall is determined. But there is a certain return for 32-year-old John McGinlay, the Bolton striker, to the front line. McGinlay, who confessed to the two most disappointing moments of my life" last summer, when Bolt on were relegated and he was left out of the Euro '96 squad, has been compensated in the last few days by the birth of his first daughter, Amy Lee, after four sons, and his return to the Scotland team.
It seems unlikely that McGinlay will stiffer any further disappointments against an Estonia team who have lost 20 of the 22 matches they have played in major competitions since rejoining FIFA as an independent state after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
