SO, it didn’t come home. There will be no bus parade, no knighthoods and the years of hurt will extend further into a fifth decade.

In truth, a run to the semi-finals was as much as England should have expected before a ball was kicked in Russia and while there will be obvious disappointment at missing out on a shot at the most coveted prize in the game there should be a realisation that they were probably not good enough to win it anyway.

It has been viewed as the golden chance for the side that have followed the golden generation but Gareth Southgate’s main achievement this summer has been restoring a bit of belief and a bit of pride to the Three Lions.

A lot has been made about England’s path to the last four and plenty north of the border have derided Southgate’s side for their performances in recent weeks.

But, at least they were there, and they earned the right to get a bit carried away. We certainly would have had Scotland qualified, never mind had a prospective path to the final.

It has been a World Cup full of drama, excitement, upsets and talking points and you couldn’t argue with France and Croatia being the last two teams left standing in Moscow.

But as many of the big guns failed to fire, the door was left open for the underdogs, including England to an extent, to progress through the rounds.

Sections of the Tartan Army may have taken plenty of pleasure seeing the Auld Enemy eventually fall at the penultimate hurdle but they should have been questioning how Southgate’s side, a hard-working, honest but unspectacular group, got that far in the first place.

Look at Denmark and Switzerland progressing to the last 16, Sweden reaching the quarter-finals and Russia, 28 places below Scotland in the rankings, getting to within a shoot-out of the semis. Most of all, marvel at a nation the size of Croatia.

They are achievements that Alex McLeish can only dream of at present and rather than mocking our British counterparts for their failures, we should be taking inspiration from their relative successes.

Victories at the Under-17s and Under-20s World Cups last year and three triumphs at the Toulon Tournament on the spin prove that England must be doing something right at youth level and the investment, in time and in money, at St George’s Park could pay off sooner rather than later.

Many of those young prospects face the same challenges as Scottish kids as they attempt to make the breakthrough into Premier League sides but England are producing a level of player, both technically and physically, that is superior to Scotland right now.

The trips to Wembley and the Leigh Griffiths free-kicks provided great memories but they are moments that shouldn’t be lauded whilst the national side continues to underperform and underachieve on the world stage.

They are snapshots when we need to look at the bigger picture. Indeed, we don’t have to wait long until ‘Scotland United: A 2020 Vision’ can be viewed as a success or a failure.

Football didn’t come home this summer. There is no pleasure in that while Scotland can’t get away, though.

AND ANOTHER THING

IN a World Cup that will be remembered for its shocks, one of the least surprising things to come out of Russia 2018 has been the commentary from Ally McCoist.

The pairing of McCoist and Jon Champion on ITV has been warmly received by armchair fans up, down and across the country and the Rangers legend has been one of the stars of the show on screen. Those that have heard him on talkSPORT will surely say the same.

Speaking a few months ago, McCoist admitted it would take something that ‘really interested’ him to tempt him back into the dugout and only time will tell if he looks to resurrect his managerial career in the future. If he doesn’t, there should always be a microphone for him.