Deep-fried Mars bars. Clapping when your plane lands. See you Jimmy hats. All things that are peculiarly Scottish, and have certainly induced a cringe from time to time.

There was a debate this week about the re-emergence of the ‘Scottish cringe’, a phrase which rather neatly sums up the propensity for a Scot’s toes to curl when they are confronted by embarrassing aspects of our culture.

There is perhaps cause to suggest that in a wider context, this low self-esteem is holding us back as a nation, but I believe that is certainly the case when it comes to Scottish football.

Now, granted, our success as a footballing nation on an international or European stage has hardly been stellar over the last few years, but there is a danger that we ourselves are buying into the notion that everything about our national game is automatically sub-standard simply because it is Scottish. That Scottish football is terrible, and we should all just accept it as fact.

Well, excuse me for using an old Scottish phrase, but if you subscribe to that theory then you can away and bile yer heid.

There is plenty to be positive about in Scottish football, and it’s about time we started to recognise it.

After the latest disappointing results for our national side towards the end of last year, how many times did you hear the phrase “we just don’t have the players?” The evidence would suggest otherwise.

Oliver Burke is the obvious poster-boy for the future of our national side following his megabucks move to the Bundesliga.

But at the top level in England, Ryan Fraser’s recent emergence at Bournemouth has been one in the eye for the naysayers north of the border who criticised him for trading Aberdeen for Bournemouth, with his performance and goal against the superstars of Arsenal last week particularly impressive.

Matt Phillips of West Brom must surely have forced his way into Gordon Strachan’s thinking with his scintillating form of late, where he has outshone the still-impressive Scots Darren Fletcher and James Morrison.

Robert Snodgrass continues to impress in a struggling Hull City side. His teammate, Andrew Robertson, likewise.

There is Charlie Adam and Phil Bardsley who continue to be ignored at Stoke City, while Jay Fulton, Oliver McBurnie and Stephen Kingsley have all had regular outings with Swansea City.

The likes of Newcastle United’s multi-million pound attacker Matt Ritchie are playing at the top end of the Championship, as well as there being a wealth of home-grown talent plying their trade in the Scottish Premiership. Not least Stuart Armstrong, who will surely make his international breakthrough in March.

So, even in the present context, there are plenty of quality Scottish players around. The real positives for me though, lie in the future talent coming through.

The battle between the outstanding Kieran Tierney of Celtic and the afore-mentioned Robertson of Hull for the Scotland left-back slot is sure to be great to watch, and even in the much-maligned centre-back area we have the likes of John Souttar of Hearts already pushing for inclusion at senior level.

We have Swansea’s young trio, Ryan Gauld improving all the time despite the politics that brought his productive loan spell at Vitoria Setubal from Sporting Lisbon to a premature end, as well as a glut of young players lower down the ladder like Rangers kid Billy Gilmour who will hopefully be among the first to reap the benefits of Project Brave.

All of this doesn’t ignore the fact that results at both senior and under-21 level for our national sides have been grim of late, but there are positives there to be found if you choose to see them.

And what of our domestic game? Celtic were back in the Champions League group stages this season, and under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers will no-doubt return next season in an even stronger position to have a crack at the European elite.

There may be a procession for the league title rather than a contest, but the battle to be best of the rest between Rangers, Aberdeen and Hearts will go down to the wire, and the rest of the table is tighter than the most stereotypically frugal Scotsman.

I am fortunate in my line of work that I see Scottish football every single week, and it is far from perfect. But it is also capable of producing matches that leave you enthralled, football that leaves a mark and moments that lift the heart.

There are also eye-catching youngsters around the SPFL Premiership who are now also getting a chance, albeit through necessity. The likes of Motherwell’s Chris Cadden, Partick Thistle’s Liam Lindsay and Kilmarnock’s Adam Frizzell are proof positive that even our provincial clubs are still producing talent.

Too many observers of our game as well as so-called supporters of it prefer to sneer at the fare on offer in Scotland rather than allow themselves to enjoy the unique nature of the Scottish game.

Is it the English Premier League? No. But it is peculiarly Scottish and it is certainly nothing to cringe about. Scottish football is rubbish? Away and gie’s peace.