When Sebastien Pocognoli's disjointed Scotland trudged off at a two-thirds-full Hampden after being well beaten by Slovenia, the intrigue that came with the start of the new boss' extended maiden camp had turned to a sense of deflation. A dominant display in a Nations League draw away to the Slovenians 10 days prior, plus another in a 2-0 victory at North Macedonia, had built optimism. A 3-0 defeat at home to Switzerland was written off after Jack Hendry's early red card was quickly followed by an opening goal for the 12th-ranked Fifa nation.
A second straight Hampden loss under the Belgian felt different, though. Pocognoli's side were "outfought" and simply "not good enough", said captain Andy Robertson. Cut open defensively throughout by Slovenia, placed nine spots below Scotland in the world rankings, a sobering second-half showing led to questions about approach, systems and squad make-up.
However, heading into a double-header against North Macedonia and Switzerland this month, which will conclude the Scots' Nations League campaign, Pocognoli insists this is more of a clean-up job rather than one that requires any radical change. "We want to continue what we produced in the first camp," the 39-year-old said after naming his latest squad, which marks the returns of Scott McTominay, Che Adams and Kieran Tierney, while James Penrice has received a first call-up as reward for an impressive run of form with Rangers. "There's no reason to change everything because I was happy with the camp.
The main word is continuity [after the first camp]. "It's important to get some good results for sure. I was clear we need to find the right balance between changing things, experimenting and also being successful." McTominay returns as Penrice earns first Scotland call Honeymoon over as Pocognoli's Scotland suffer domestic disharmony In football's savage, reactive world, a deserved defeat at home to a team ranked outside the world's top 50 is bound to attract scrutiny.
Given it was the final match of a four-game run before a six-week wait to attempt to put things right, that criticism only becomes prolonged. Pocognoli shared the Tartan Army's disappointment, but after a few days the "real feeling" came after a debut camp packed with new faces and "strong decisions". "When the disappointment was gone, the first feeling was positive," he said.
"We did a lot of good things. "But we need a good result to give something to the supporters and give confidence to the players that we are winning games - that's the main factor in qualifying for tournaments. "We want to just continue the good things we showed in Slovenia and North Macedonia in a very short period of time, to keep the fragment of these games and to try to clean some situations." Despite the positivity Pocognoli is harbouring, he is not oblivious to the fact Scotland need to improve this month.
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