The change of the date to 12th August now means that as well arriving obscenely early in the new campaign George Burley now wants some of his key men - i.e. those from the 'Old Firm' - to have no domestic competitive games under their belts at all.
Traditionally the Scottish domestic season has commenced on the second Saturday in August - and the fact is that Scotland have never played a World Cup qualifier in that month - although come late summer whether the tie with Norway will find the group still alive as far as the Scots are concerned is another matter entirely. Personally I very much have my doubts.
Why have Scotland never before played a World Cup qualifier in August? Well, there's a simple answer to this - players do require some time to hone match fitness to a fully competitive level. For the same reason both Rangers and Celtic view Champions League qualifiers in August with apprehension - so why on earth did the SFA deputation agree in the first instance to a date of 19th August?
Rangers' disastrous Champions League qualifier with FBK Kaunas in the early days of this season was actually played on Wednesday 30th July and Tuesday 5th August, with the domestic season getting under way the following Saturday the 9th. Had Rangers - as they undoubtedly should have - overcome Kaunas they would have faced a trip to Aalborg of Denmark the following midweek.
In other words - if Rangers had been obliged to cancel their opening League fixture at Falkirk they would have been facing the nightmare scenario of going into a Third Round Champions League qualifier without a single domestic game under their belt. This August it COULD be even worse - that Third Round qualifier could be against opposition far more daunting than Aalborg.
The SFA have one hell of a lot to answer for. They offered Rangers no assistance whatsoever as far as Manchester 2008 and the SPL title race was concerned that season - and now they have made an absolute mess of their own World Cup qualifiers.