A week ago, the Tartan Army were in Italy. Last night, it was Manchester United's turn. Sadly for Man Utd fans - it's there that the similarity ends.

The scenes from the Olympic Stadium were shocking alright. Defenceless fans being beaten and bloodied where they lay.

Roma's "finest" say the Man Utd fans charged the perspex barrier seperating them from Roma supporters. When bottles and coins started getting lobbed, they had no option but to intervene.

Man U fans on telly today state the opposite. The first bottles thrown were Peroni and the coins were Euros - it was the Roma fans who started it. And, sadly, a few areseholes in red retaliated.

I wasn't there. But if I had to chose between genuine football supporters paying good money to follow their team - and a crowd of Darth Vader lookalikes looking for something to do with their sticks - I'm with the Manchester lads.

The fact that the Manchester "side" was already rammed full of police made it obvious where they thought the trouble was going to come from. The Olympic Stadium last night was a cracked skull waiting to happen.

The difference between the Stadio Nicola last week and the Olympic Stadium last night was all down to expectation. The Bari police didn't expect any trouble from the Tartan Army -  and didn't get any. But the Roma riot squads were all tooled up for a rammy right from the start - and got what they were looking for.

It would be easy for footsoldiers to rest on their laurels and bask in the comfort zone of our reputation abroad. And for a moment at least, why not? The tag of "best behaved supporters" is something to be proud of - even if probably a slight exaggeration.

I'm sure Norway, Sweden and Switzerland have well behaved fans. Where Scotland differ is their behaviour on a grand scale - there were 7000 in Bari and not a single incident.

But the scenes in Roma last night are proof that it can all go tits up at anytime. I'd bet the majority of Man U fans were decent supporters.Let's face it, anywhere we go - yes, even Wembley - the majority are always decent supporters.

I can't imagine any trouble in Austria or the Faroes -  but the TA must stay vigilant. Bari attracted a fair share of "virgin footsoldiers" whose behaviour was borderline. Thankfully, the usual "self-policing" saved any embarrassment.

At the Red Onion pub, one lad was in the toilet, boaking for Britain. One his way back to the bar, a wiser footsoldier advised the lad it was maybe time to call it a day. "Who the f**k are you?" he asked.

"I'm just the guy you'll thank tomorrow," was his reply. The boy walked away.

Headlines about how much swally we consumed in Bari are all very macho. But it only takes one diddy to spoil it for everyone.

Hopefully, decent Scotland fans will not react to the Roma footage with "serves them right". Our reaction has to be "Thank God it wisnae us in there".

Bob Shields