Scotland face Macedonia at Hampden this weekend followed by the mighty Holland on Wednesday, in a World Cup qualifying double-header that has the reputation of Scottish football at stake.

It might sound a little melodramatic, but the fact of the matter is that football in Scotland has taken a battering in the first month of the new season. The sport north of the border is now backed up against the ropes, and if the the left hand of Macedonia doesn’t deliver on Saturday, then the right hand uppercut of the Dutch on Wednesday night might just be enough to knock Scotland to the floor. And if the Scots are KO’d, you’d bet your mortgage that George Burley will be looking for a new job by the following morning.

But the national team may be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the problems in Scottish football.

Roll the clock back about three weeks, and the performance by Scottish teams in the foetal stages of Europe’s club competitions highlights the widening gulf in quality between the sides in the SPL compared with, say, those of Romania, Czech Republic and lowly Liechtenstein.

For it was teams from these countries that eventually put paid to Motherwell, Aberdeen and Falkirk’s chances in the newly formatted Europa League – formerly known as the UEFA Cup – the European tournament that is regarded as the second tier of club teams on the continent. Hearts fared marginally better, taking a thumping in Zagreb (4-0) before making amends in the home leg, which they won 2-0, but still went out.

That left just the Old Firm – Rangers and Celtic, mainstays in European competition thanks to their prolongued dominance of the domestic scene – to carry the flag in Europe.

Celtic looked doomed to a season without European football following a surprise 1-0 home defeat to Dynamo Moscow in Tony Mowbray’s first game in charge, but overturned the deficit by winning 2-0 away.

That earned them a tie against London heavyweights Arsenal, where they again lost the home leg without getting on the scoresheet, before a 3-1 defeat at the Emirates saw them sink in to the Europa League. Arguably, the brightest point for Celtic came in the second game with the Eduardo penalty farce, as it at least took the focus away from how much the Gunners had outclassed their opponents.

So Rangers are left as Scotland’s Champions League representatives, hoping that a place in the second round can help reverse their worsening economic situation, which has seen them unable to strengthen in the transfer window, aside from the loan signing of French winger Jerome Rothen.

Speaking of the transfer window, Scottish clubs on the whole made up about £6M of signings in total. That is about the same amount that Everton splashed out on Dutch defender Johnny Heitinga from Atletico Madrid, and further highlights the lack of funds available to Scottish clubs – even Rangers and Celtic.

Irony has it that Heitinga could well line up against the Scots on Wednesday for Holland – a physical reminder of the financial battle Scotland has on its hands, as well as the sporting one.