The nature of this Scotland defeat felt far more significant than the fact it arrived at all. Sébastien Pocognoli is already in tricky territory, just four games into his tenure as Scotland head coach. Slovenia comprehensively outplayed the fragile hosts at Hampden Park, which leaves Pocognoli staring at a third-placed finish in a soft Nations League section.
Brave new dawn or beginning of an error? Scotland were defensively disorganised. Their attacking play was timid.
Long before full time, the 39-year-old Belgian had the look of a coach throwing darts blindly at a board. Wastefulness from Slovenia prevented Scottish embarrassment. A scathing assessment arrived from the Scotland captain, Andy Robertson, who admitted his team were “outfought”.
Robertson added: “They looked a lot fresher, a lot more hungry.” Pocognoli was more circumspect. I will not say everything is perfect or everything is bad but we need to improve many things. We have enough quality.” A pre-match presentation to Robertson, who reached the 100-cap mark during Scotland’s win in North Macedonia on Saturday, carried wider meaning.
Gordon Strachan and Alex McLeish, Robertson’s first two Scotland managers, were joined on the Hampden pitch by Steve Clarke. This marked a swift and welcome return to the national stadium for Clarke, who departed the Scotland job in unsatisfactory circumstances following failings at the World Cup. Clarke, bashful by nature, took as significant a bow as was ever likely before supporters.
Scotland find themselves in a post-Clarke state of flux. He was the manager who made this country relevant on the wider stage once again. There was, however, widespread criticism that Clarke’s team lacked ambition.
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