Scotland’s post Euros evolution

So the attempt to make this a monthly thing this year failed by month two. Decent going.

I blame marathon training. And everything else as long as it absolves me personally of any responsibility. Glad we’ve cleared that one up.

I was slightly stuck on what to write about for this one, we’re a bit early for a full season review but definitely missed the boat on a mid-season report. Once again, everyone else's fault but my own.

So, as I sit the day before the Hampden leg v Greece and after a very impressive win in Athens (don’t know if anyone mentioned Greece’s home record?) I thought now may be a good time to reflect on Steve Clarke’s Scotland teams evolution in the relatively short time from the disappointment of the Hungary match in Stuttgart back in June up to now. With the national side in a good spot to retain our group A Nations League status and with a World Cup campaign on the horizon.

I think it would be fair to say that Steve Clarke and the full staff came under pretty significant scrutiny after our defeat to Hungary that left us bottom of our group with 1 point from 3 games.

A lot of the chat leading up to the euros from all corners was about actually wanting to make an impact on the tournament this time around and I think, despite some slightly concerning form heading into the tournament, that this team was in a good place to go and do just that.

Battered after an admittedly superb showing from the hosts, a respectable draw with a good Swiss side left it all on the line for the last game against Hungary. 

And we all know how that went.

Moving on.

I think everyone acknowledged that there needed to be change after the tournament. To what extent the change should have been really divided opinion.

A lot, and most importantly the bosses at the SFA, were still firmly in support of Steve Clarke’s ongoing project to make us a side who continues to qualify for tournaments regularly and achieves what feels like the holy grail - a spot at the World Cup.

However, I think slightly more felt like this was Steve Clarke’s undoubtedly successful Scotland reign coming to a slightly underwhelming end.

Clearly, the former was the option that was pressed ahead with and here we are.

So, to the Nations League then. A tournament that UEFA have actually come out with some credit for to be fair, despite initial cynicism from more than a few.

Our group would include us, Lewandowski’s Poland, perennial overachievers Croatia and a star studded Portugal.

A tough group, but in League A that is probably to be anticipated.

Opening night was against Poland at Hampden, our post euros return home. Probably the most winnable of all the fixtures on paper.

Whether it was enforced by the absence of Tierney or if this had been the plan all along, we ditched the 3/5 at the back formation that we’d employed for the majority of Clarke’s stint thus far.

It looked to be a 4-2-3-1 type set up, with the exciting possibility of seeing some new faces such as Ben Doak and Ryan Gauld from the bench, who many had been clamouring to see for some time now.

The actual overall performance on the night was fairly decent, let down by two individual errors that resulted in the concession of penalties, both of which were of course converted. The decisive one in the 97th minute. Classic.

Clarke’s backers would point to an improved performance against a good side who had reached the knockout stages of the world cup less than 2 years prior.

Those on the other side of the fence would claim that despite the change in shape he had again chosen players who aren’t playing regularly at club level and of course it was two players under that umbrella who gave away the two spot kicks.

On the bright side, the fixtures got a lot easier after that with an away double header against Croatia and Portugal next up in the calendar.

I think we all begrudgingly accepted that anything more than a 0 point return would probably be an overachievement.

Both games saw us take the lead but eventually succumb to defeat.

The Portugal game we gave a good account of ourselves against a team full of world class players, of course conceding late on to Cristiano Ronaldo. Boo.

Away to Croatia we again performed well through the game but gave away a couple of poor goals defensively.

We also seriously did not get the rub of the green that night with a 95th minute equaliser being ruled out for a tight offside.

So overall, after the first three games, I think we could all see that the performances were going in the right direction but the team had found an unfortunate habit of losing football matches, which can be hard to drag yourselves out of.

The stats were hard to ignore though, a 2-0 win over Gibraltar aside, this team had not won another game since a 3-0 away win in Cyprus over a year previously.

I do remember seeing a few renewed calls for the manager to go, but that was never going to happen mid-campaign. The lack of victories won’t have gone unnoticed of course, and you can be sure Steve Clarke was feeling the heat, probably for the first real time since taking the role.

Portugal at home was next and I think we were all fearing the worst slightly, as is the way. But we got a stoic defensive display from the boys in blue who nullified pretty much everything the Portuguese had to offer. Even got a tantrum from Ronaldo at the end. Great stuff.

Even better news was that we finally had something quantifiable to back up the performances. A point on the board against one of the continent’s best squads who, if they had appointed a better manager, could have gone close in the previous summer’s Euros.

The last two games against Croatia and Poland were both, most likely, must wins. We all remembered far too clearly the last must win fixture we’d been involved in..

Croatia at home was first up.

From a Scotland point of view, a slightly fortuitous red card gave us a man advantage and whilst Croatia remained dangerous on the break I always felt we’d get the goal eventually. It arrived a few minutes from time, after great work from Ben Doak who ripped Croatia apart that night, leading to the ball falling to the man, the myth, the meatball Mcginn who did so well to keep his shot down and find the back of the net.

Great scenes. We’d won a game! Get Baccara on the queue Mr DJ.

So, after all that excitement it was all on the last game in Warsaw. Win and we go into the play off to stay in league A, anything else and we were dropping back to league B. Not a totally disastrous outcome as it would lead to some more winnable games but if this team really wants to mix it with the big boys then getting as much experience as possible playing teams of that calibre is going to be important.

I was making the trip to Warsaw (woohoo) and was looking forward to it. I had a good feeling about the trip overall and it is fair to say it did not disappoint.

The city itself is great and the locals very welcoming. We did manage to fit in a bit of culture amongst the pubs which was good and adds weight to my argument that these trips are culturally important and not just about going and sampling the local alcohol range (it is).

I have to say the stadium in Warsaw left me with more than a hint of jealousy. Planted right in the city centre and looks absolutely class. Surely this is what Hampden could be one day?

No problems getting in and around after somehow securing a police escort to the ground, happy days.

When I go on these trips, I of course want Scotland to win and do well, but as a supporter you want that ‘moment’. A goal that either brings you level, or preferably, puts you in the lead.

I was lucky enough to get two of those up high in the Warsaw sky.

The first was pretty early in the game after Super Ben Doak (excellent song) cut the ball back to the equally Super John McGinn to roll the ball into the corner. Cue scenes.

The game would have been a lot more comfortable had the Poland RB not decided to absolutely rocket one into the top corner. Bit rude.

But leave it to the ex United teammates and flatmates to set up delirium for all of a dark blue persuasion. Great ball in from Souttar and a storming header from Robbo to nick all three points. That’s why you put up with all the pain - moments like that.

It was great to see all the players and staff celebrate as one. They had all clearly been hurting as much as us and this was such a release for them. They’re a very likeable bunch and I was delighted to see how much it meant to them all, as it did for us up basically on the roof.

After the rollercoaster of the whole Nations League experience I was not too upset that there was a bit of a break after that game until our relegation play off against Greece. But eventually, March came around and it was international break time again.

I was slightly concerned that, due to the availability of Tierney and the injury to Doak, that Clarke might revert to his original 3/5 in defence. However, I had faith that he would stick to the system that had done us well through the nations league and Stevie boy did not let me down.

An excellent first half performance had us deservedly in the lead at half time after a McTominay penalty. Maybe a bit soft but we’ve had those against us so I’m certainly not complaining.

Second half was a total backs to the wall display, with our defence performing admirably, especially when you consider that half of it in Ralston and Hanley do not play many minutes week to week.

Personally, I would like to see McKenna and Max Johnston in these roles (or Hickey if he ever gets fit), but if you’re going to somewhere like Greece and coming away with a win to nil then there can certainly be not much dissension in the ranks about that.

At the time of typing, the second leg is less than 24 hours away and I feel pretty positive about our chances. Come out and perform like a confident home side and we’ll get the result we’re looking for, I am sure of it.

3-0 Greece then. Sound.

Feels right to finish this with a conclusion of sorts, so we’ll look back at what has changed since full time in Stuttgart. 

We’ve seen some new faces in the likes of Ryan Gauld, Ben Doak and more recently, youngsters Lennon Miller and James Wilson alongside new recruit George Hirst.

A stick that had often been used to beat Steve Clarke with was his stubbornness when it came to squad selection to always go to his tried and trusted, but the past few months have shown he is definitely willing to start introducing our ones for the future a bit sooner, if they earn it from performances at club level.

We have also shifted to a new formation with more midfielders which has noticeably enabled us to exert more control throughout games, rather than just giving it to Tierney and Robertson’s side of the pitch and hoping for the best.

The supporters are 100% back on board with this team - it was looking slightly choppy for a while and the squad looks healthy with that all important blend of youth and experience.

It looks to be coming together well, with the all important World Cup 2026 qualifiers to come later this year - that’s the final step for this team and manager. 

Here’s hoping the step ends up being a stride the width of the Atlantic.