I SINCERELY hope it doesn’t happen, but could we be looking at a World Cup without any of the home nations?

Scotland are certainly down and out after their defeats by Wales and Serbia, where it was at least good to see Jordan Rhodes get a start.

Welsh hopes were raised by that win in Glasgow, but spirits were then deflated when they crashed to Croatia in Swansea.

Northern Ireland are on a shocking run of nine games without a win under Michael O’Neill, while the Republic face a battle to make the qualification play-offs.

That’s where England could be heading if they can’t get over their habit of fading in the second half, and in Montenegro, they appeared to lose concentration.

They got a great start through Wayne Rooney, who once again showed his value by maintaining his excellent scoring run for England.

And his Manchester United teammate Danny Welbeck might well have won a penalty, only to be booked for diving instead.

That proved to be a turning point as Montenegro came back into the match and bossed the second half.

Their equaliser means it’s a massive return match at Wembley in October, and while there are also home games against Moldova and Poland to come, let’s not forget Roy Hodgson’s side still have a tough trip to Ukraine to negotiate.

I think Hodgson is a good manager, but he was a bit slow to use his substitutes in Podgorica, and he now has some really big games on the horizon.

As for the Scots, it’s a sorry situation when they are rock bottom of their section, still without a win in six attempts in qualifiers.

Managers have come and gone, with Gordon Strachan the latest to try and somehow find a formula for some sort of success.

Both the national team and the domestic set-up appear to be in trouble, even allowing for Celtic’s heroics in the Champions League.

Reports that Celtic and Rangers could come south have again appeared.

It seems outlandish that they should be paying in the Conference, where some suggest they should start out.

But Rangers are currently in the Scottish Third Division, and people would have branded you mad to suggest that a few years back.