The title is something I’ve read or heard a fair bit over the course of the Euros and since our departure from Germany, and it is a very easy comment to make and understand. 3 games, 2 goals and a squad that contained 26 players and you’d be hard pressed to say any of those who got on the pitch got pass marks.
Now I’m not going to hammer Steve Clarke and his staff. Since 1998 we hadn’t seen the bright lights of a major tournament once until Steve took over and now we are 2 from the last 3. Some people want to feed the negative narrative on Clarke and his team and will say we were lucky and that McLeish got us to the finals of the Nations League that led to the first qualification, but the simple fact is Steve Clarke made us function again, tough to beat, steal a few results like we did vs Israel and Serbia just to get some momentum going and we’ve progressed a lot, and at times we’ve even played quite well. He done what no manager since Craig Brown managed to do and in some cases with teams as good or better than this squad.
We topped the Nations League (22/24) recently against Ukraine, Republic of Ireland and Armenia with the 3-0 win vs Ukraine being a major highlight of that group for us.
Then we come through a tough European qualification group with Spain, Norway, Georgia and Cyprus with 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. That record from that group was beyond all expectations. Were we lucky at times, damn right we were but when confidence is up and the plan is clear it’s funny how often luck drops on your side.
What Changed?
Players, the format (only having 3 games to get it right) and so many of the other teams turning up having found good versions of themselves or having one or two players at the top end of the pitch who could keep them there and execute when chances came their way and like any top tournament you see teams who are either incredibly well drilled or great at adapting and in this one we didn’t fall into either of those categories.
We have a small pool of players to select from and I’ll get into that shortly, but the pool of players is small and yes other nations are similar. However most of the nations like ours went in with the vast majority of key players available while we lost or didn’t take players like:
Craig Gordon – Fitness
Aaron Hickey – Injured
Nathan Patterson – Injured
Lewis Ferguson – Injured
Lyndon Dykes – Injured
Of that group for me we had 3 players that when we qualified for the Euros I would have pinned on starting in Gordon, Hickey (or Patterson) and Dykes. All 3 were vital components to how we have setup under Clarke. Dykes especially was arguably the key to everything because rate him or not for Scotland he is the only player we have who can play as the aggressive number 9 that will go and be physical with defenders, take the ball in and win fouls with his back to goal, or hold it to allow us to get the midfield higher up the pitch.
So, this is where I have to be critical of Clarke and his team. With our setup being so heavily reliant on that type of striker, knowing we only have 1 who can play that way. Why did we not have a plan B for a setup that would work better if Adams or Shankland were starting, because playing the same way as we do with Dykes does is not get anything from those 2, and it then asked things of other key players that reduces their impact and in some cases made them look like shadows of the players who got us to Germany.
There were a few glaring mistakes through the Euros that stood out for me and I wonder if the pressure got to Clarke and the squad:
His comment after the loss to Germany during his presser about the misinterpretation of the plan laid out by the staff was of major concern. 1st game vs the hosts and we have a group of players who didn’t know what was being asked of them and worse still after 10 minutes it was clear we needed a change to get closer to the German midfield and he didn’t do anything.
Then against Switzerland we are putting on our attacking subs after the 90th minute which showed that we were playing for a point.
Last game vs Hungary felt like the game against Switzerland in that we never really committed to anything until the end and by then it becomes chaotic and we rarely do well in those moments.
The players all took some criticism but the criticism of John McGinn and Callum McGregor was probably the loudest of all, but almost none of it took into consideration what was being asked of them in the games which took them away from what they’d been doing so well in recent times.
Looking at John McGinn in a little more detail:
Overall Heatmap for Euro 24:
vs Germany started on the right side of a flat midfield 4, just ahead of Ralston and with the defence being so rigid and timid we never got near anyone during that game. Then when we went down to 10 men and he shifted over to the left side. The game was done and we for my money were fortunate Germany seemed happy to play in 2st gear for most of the second half. I thought of all our midfielders he might be the one we’d try to place on or as near Kroos when defending.
Vs Switzerland he appeared to be deployed as a second striker which seemed to be Clarke trying to have an extra body up top to stop Akanji or Rodriguez from coming out of the back 3 and into the midfield, and to an extent it worked but McGinn had little to no chance of being involved in the game.
Vs Hungary he played as a 10 alongside McTominay in a 3421 / 5221 setup but Hungary had that middle area locked down and with Ralston and Robertson never really getting high up the pitch we just seen the ball move from one defender to another, into midfield and then back again over and over and over and over and over again.
Over all 3 games he registered less than 100 (73 according to Sofascore) touches of the ball, which to put into perspective is less than the 94 touches Grant Hanley had vs Hungary and well below Angus Gunn who had 138 touches over the 3 games. Our most energetic and in your face midfielder in most games played in roles that done more to take him out of the action than to make use of what he does best. We cannot expect any real influence from players if they don’t have the ball.
Overall performance in the Euros:
All the midfielders suffered from the system because we had no attacking width and Che Adams had no one moving around him so opposition defenders were able to pass him on to each other with ease. You could count on one hand how many times Robbo and Ralston got higher up the pitch than the midfield because the setup made it easy for all 3 teams to control what we did when we had controlled possession.
Attacking wise we were dead in the water. When the fullbacks did on the rare occasion get a bit higher and see a chance of hitting a cross, we often only had one or two in the box vs 4 or 5. There just felt like we had done tons of defensive prep but absolutely zero attacking work. I also look back with confusion at friendlies leading up to the tournament. 4 friendlies, 3 of which Shankland started and the other 1 seen Dykes start, but then we go with Adams to start all 3 games.
Defensively we survived, but it was a unit defense that was deep and in many ways it protects players from being over exposed so on an individual level they are tough to judge. The one moment of absolute madness lays at the feet of Porteous and the shins of Gundogan and he was rightly sent off, and rightly hit with the 2 game ban because it was wreck-less and being brutal it was ridiculous. A flashback to the Porteous who seemed more interested in nailing someone than just doing a solid job and working hard to help his team keep. A real shame because in his recent spell in the Scotland team and along with a solid season for Watford it finally looked as if the penny had dropped and those moments of downright stupidity were gone.
Gunn in goal, I have to be honest the whole didn’t want to play for us, then we qualify and Gordon is injured, and then he is interested. It isn’t something that appealed to me and while I have no issue with us bringing in players using the birth place of their parents or grandparents it should for me be a one-time request and if the answer is no then that should be the end of it. In terms of his ability I hadn’t seen a great deal of him prior to the Euros but made a point of watching the playoffs and if that had been a final audition then we wouldn’t have been cast as 3rd choice never mind 1st. The Germany game, he was second only to Porteous for having a shocker. Over the final 2 games I’d be fair and say I though he done ok. Few key saves, but I’m still not convinced on him longer term.
Overall all 3 games at Euro 24 had clear patterns set within 15mins of the start and this is my biggest criticism of Clarke and his staff. We never once adapted or changed anything significant until we were at a stage of it being desperate and even then, some of the changes seemed like they were out of habit or drawn out of hat especially against Hungary.
Within 10 minutes you could see they had no fear of our attack and were happy to watch us frustrate ourselves and our support by letting us have the ball and do nothing with it. We had no creativity and no width in the team. Gulasci in goal must have wondered why he put his gloves on. Hungary had their plan and executed it, they’d pinch the ball and within 4 or 5 passes would be in the final third and they’d be winning free kicks, corners or getting shots away.
Then it’s late on and we all know 2 points isn’t going to be enough so these were our subs:
89mins – In: L. Morgan > Out: A. Robertson
83mins –In: K. McLean > Out: A. Ralston
83mins – In: R. Christie > Out: B. Gilmour
76mins – In: L. Shankland > Out: C. Adams
76mins – In: S. Armstrong > Out: J. McGinn
Even now I have no idea what the aim was with any of those subs. We needed a goal and so positionally Shankland and Armstrong are moving into like for like roles. Shankland was for the most part of his 20 minutes or so as isolated as Adams was.
Then McLean and Christie come on and Jack Hendry moves to right back and we move to a 4132/4222 with McTominay going higher and late on we chuck on Morgan for Roberston and by then the shape was gone, looked more like an under 5s tactical setup with players all over the place and Hungary let us implode, kept their shape and took advantage of us, and deservedly won the game.
The penalty. I’m surprised they didn’t at least have a look because the referee had a position that wasn’t ideal, but they didn’t give it and outside of that we done nothing that was worthy of getting anything from that game.
Hindsight is a wonderful idea, and being frank it’s a load of nonsense as we can’t change the past, but we can learn from it so for me if that scenario came round again and given our approach to the last 2 tournaments it’s likely then I’d hope if it’s is Clarke that he would recognise that as games become more back and forth the key element is width in attack, so you don’t leave the only natural winger you have on the bench in James Forrest and you don’t let it get that late before you change the structure of the team because our game became chaos, and you don’t leave the striker most likely of scoring sat on ice and then throw him up top on his own when there is no service coming from anywhere. If it was a poker hand Hungary seen we had 3,10 off suit and just kept checking, watching us play ourselves into oblivion before we were forced to commit and go all in then they showed a pair and took all of our chips.
In the end my main takeaway from this tournament is that we just didn’t have a plan B and that we were far too fast to set out our stall with Clarke himself saying the aim was 4 points and it feel as they expected. 3 games and a chance for 9 points and we aim for less than 50% of that and were openly saying so from the off. 3 points should have been the minimum expectation (and never been said), 4 should have been the number where we know we qualify and publicly 9 should be the aim not just for us but for every team. We setup looking to meet minimum expectations and I wonder if that was an issue for the players because plenty of other teams have gone into this tournament and just attacked it and seen where it will take them.
The players overall weren’t good enough and in part during those 3 games the setup tied a hand behind their backs. I also felt sorry for the likes of Shankland, Forrest and a few others who didn’t get the game time they should have given the form they were carrying into the tournament, but given the setup I’m not sure how much things would have changed even if they had got more minutes because we seemed allergic to being in the opposition box.
Outside of that there has been an absentee from the squad for the last few years who is arguably the only natural number 10 we have who plays and produces regularly. Ryan Gauld, a player who as far as I’m aware wasn’t being picked because Steve Clarke didn’t rate the level of the MLS (another story entirely) but then his last late call up is an in-form MLS player Lewis Morgan.
Since Morgan has been in the MLS it’s easy to say he’s been the second-best Scottish player in that league behind Gauld, who for the last 4 years hasn’t just been the best Scottish player there but one of the best performers overall. 3 years of getting double figures in goal contributions and captaining the Vancouver Whitecaps. Chances are Canada will probably snap him up soon as he must be nearing the point where he can gain citizenship and at 28 he still has good years left in him. It just seems mad to me that we have a player who is happy playing in tight spaces, head up and looks to play passes that can open up teams and he’s not even close to getting a sniff, especially when right now we don’t have anyone like that near the squad.
Problems and Solutions:
The glaring problem we have overall is we lack quality, especially in the attacking third. Our production of players over the past 10 years has been really poor and the numbers right now don’t suggest that much will change over the next 10 years, certainly not courtesy of our own league and there are very few of the attackers in the under 21s or under 19s that as of right now look like they will bring goals to the table anytime soon.
In the national team squad our current top goal scorers are McGinn (18 goals – 69 caps) and McTominay (9 goals – 52 caps) along with Dykes who wasn’t available (9 goals – 36 caps).
In all honesty I’m not sure we’ve had a European class striker or attacking player in the last 20 years. James McFadden would be arguably the best of the bunch and he wasn’t really a number 9, then we have had the likes of Steven Fletcher, Miller, Iwelumo, Steven Thompson, Rhodes and many others who are easy forgotten and many of the attacking midfielders are the same.
Defensively we’ve been ok, but again a lot of the names you’d struggle to say are anything above average in their position with the exception of Roberston and Tierney. Although I do have hopes for Hickey if he can overcome the injury issues he’s been having.
In goal is probably been the area where for a long time we had the luxury of knowing we had solid options especially with Gordon, Marshall and McGregor having held the gloves for long periods.
But the big question is which players look likely to step up from the next generation and in all honesty the list isn’t all that long…..
TransferMarkt done a solid article on some of our issues (link below) and I cannot argue with any part of it:
and if you need 1 image to paint a big part of the picture it’s this:
and this little snippet of the article only goes to show how bad things are:
“These figures only become starker when we then zoom in on the individual clubs in the Scottish top-flight to see which ones are giving serious game time to young players. Worryingly, no less than half of the 12 Premiership clubs – Celtic, Rangers, St Mirren, St Johnstone, Dundee and Livingston – failed to provide at least 50% of the available minutes in the regular league campaign to a single U21 player this season, while Kilmarnock, Ross County, Hearts and Hibernian only had one U21 player in their team that played at least half a league campaign. Aberdeen outperformed all other clubs in the division, but even their tally stands at just two U21 players for the entire season.”
The under 21 and under 19 teams are a good marker of where we are as a national team with almost 50% of the players over the 2 squads playing football outside of Scotland, which in itself isn’t a big problem but again it shows where we are domestically.
The pathways are poor, some might say the quality is poor (I’d disagree) and the system is flawed. Root cause…… money and an unsustainable setup which is mad when you think that the ratio of people attending games in this country is one of the best in world football. Yet our media partners like Sky, Premier Sports and BBC all treat our game like it’s got little to no value, no shock given we have guys like Neil Doncaster promoting it like it’s an afterthought of the job that pays him and his pals quite considerable sums of money.
When I look at that list of % of minutes for under 21s the one thing I do know is most of the nations below us have some very good emerging talent so they should move up a little and some of the nations above might drop down a bit, but our story looks bleak and it’s hard to see us moving up that table without some serious change from top to bottom. Leadership from the FA, league and clubs themselves. I can’t and will never suggest political involvement in the situation, anytime Governments get involved things only ever seem to get worse.
Then we have the big problem next door. As a lot of talent we do have is being poached by top teams in England, they are hoovering up young talent courtesy of the cash rich environment Sky provide them, and it has been in part caused by Brexit being the biggest pile of horse shite that UK politics has produced since the Poll Tax. The requirement for homegrown players in European competition looms large, so we now have players who might not have got a sniff of a move down south being poached because they can’t pick up young players from Europe and beyond until they turn 18, and even the young players who move down don’t make it at those top clubs it’s difficult to bring them back because of the finances involved. Chances are most will be loaned out to lower league English teams until their contract ends.
I don’t blame the clubs or players, if someone at 16 offered me 10k a week, a house and nice relocation package for Mum and Dad I’d have taken their hand off as well. The only upshot for the national team is that if we see players going and working at top facilities, under top coaches at places like Liverpool then hopefully those players will hit high levels. However, it doesn’t help our domestic game and long term we have no idea where it will lead. Clubs up here will be quick to complain but if they don’t open up pathways here and give good young players chances then they have no right to complain when their best young players opt to take the cash while it’s on the table. There are some players who will look back and say they made the wrong choice and maybe should have stayed in Scotland for longer, and some will say if you are good enough you will get the chances but the numbers don’t lie. So the chances of more players following in the footsteps of a player like Ben Doak seem to increase season on season.
What we can change….
Our league being so blind as to why it needs to be bigger to allow teams a bit of room to breathe and in turn become more competitive.
We start the season in Scotland with 12 teams and 10 of them have a concern about what a bad season (relegation) could do and have to plan accordingly and I know having spoken to coaches and people who work at some of the bigger teams outside of Glasgow that most start the season without any thoughts about what points they take from Celtic and Rangers, so you have most of the teams, including those with ambitions of top 6 almost writing off 24 points before a ball is kicked. That’s 1 point less than Livingston got last season (25 points from 38 games) and only 7 more points than the gap from Rangers to Hearts (17 point gap). I don’t think we would see a sudden change in where the title ends up, but over time I think a league setup where each team only plays twice would see a far more competitive league, with teams like Hearts, Aberdeen and Hibs looking at the league and being confident of making top 6 and more chances to introduce young players to the fold because teams would have more room to breathe in a season and over time we would hopefully see a better standard because the competition would be more open.
Some teams will say they need the 2 visits from Celtic and Rangers to stay above the red line but again there has to be a better way, whether that be Scottish teams who go into Europe committing to paying out a share of the competition money across the league for a period of 10 years on top of the funds UEFA pays. I know that many supporters of Celtic, Rangers and the others who make Europe would probably rage at that idea, but the reality is something needs to give until such time as we generate more money via TV and sponsorship deals.
I’d remove almost all our league execs, with Doncaster first out the door and replace him with someone who actually believes in our game and committed to securing the best deals via TV (that also allows fans to watch our league and cup games under one license) and sponsorship and then introducing a payment system like they have in France where you get a better slice of the pie if you are producing young talent.
In terms of league setup I would like to see us got to a setup with an 18 team (34 league games) league and then promote a few clubs up from the lowland league to form 2 x 16 team leagues with the bottom tier allowing B teams. This would allow for a proper winter break every season and more windows of opportunity to reschedule games given our climate seems to be changing significantly and with each passing season we are seeing more issues with postponed games or poor pitches. I would also push for the lower leagues to follow the Dutch format for a while and play there games at a different time from the Premier League and look to bring bigger audiences to those clubs.
Now some will say that 18 teams means you’ll still have teams fearing relegation, and that is absolutely true but as it stands right now we have 9, if not 10 of the 12 teams starting the season with an immediate aim of getting past the 30 point marker asap. So basically we have 2 tiers in the league. 2 teams who want to win the title from day 1 and the rest just wanting to hit that marker and then evaluate as they go. Where as in bigger leagues you tend to have 3 or 4 tiers of teams. You have the title contenders, the teams who are looking at top half and European spots, teams who think they are middle of the road and will evaluate as they go, and then the teams who know a relegation battle is likely. That is better than what we have in my opinion and it gives much more hope to teams like Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen and a few others that if they have solid seasons and beat the rest then they could find themselves in a title fight. Surely that is better than what we have now….
Some images from a UEFA produced fact sheet:
Leagues Sizes (22/23):
Details of the landscape in Scotland in 2022/23:
% of minutes played by club trained players and players trained within the league:
The clubs also have to do better with what we currently have. There is so many players in this country that are lost to the game or treated poorly by clubs, stunting their chances of progression and it’s infuriating to see. Top-tier and some of the clubs in the tiers below charging pro-youth donations (fees) to play for clubs where the standards are disgraceful. I’ve listened to some and seen some great examples of good coaching up here, but also seen and heard some absolute horrors about things that go one at some clubs and to be honest any half decent journalist could have a field day with some of the stuff that happens up here, pity we don’t have any to actually open the story up, investigate and challenge things. One example of the dire standard of coaching that really got me was a young winger being told that his only job was to make himself available for long balls and to jump and look to win fouls vs the fullback, and then be berated for taking a ball down and trying to beat his man. I’ve also seen one club who go through more youth coaches than half-time oranges but yet the club wonder why the results are inconsistent and that most of their players are looking for an exit route.
I also have to take aim at the executives in clubs and at the SPFL and SFA, they need to be doing more to enhance the game. With clearer standards set and far more transparency about all areas of compliance and how they plan to work collectively to improve our game.
Clubs need to be more involved and supportive with young players, especially those who are being released. Ensuring that where possible we look to keep them in the game if they want to stay in it, that might mean a new club or it might mean a new direction into coaching, scouting or the many other areas that make-up clubs these days.
The FA and league need to be more engaged with the entire pyramid and supporters. The recent fiasco with Lowland League clubs and Edinburgh City all having issues with licenses and the Dundee pitch issues and subsequent fines shows up the situation for what it is and that is a bad comedy and now we have a situation going into the new season where Rangers don’t seem to have a clue where they are playing their home games. We also have TV deals that will require supporters to fork out small fortunes to be able to watch the league and national team, I doubt many people outside of Scotland are going to pay for it. IPTV box sales will no doubt jump and as it stands there doesn’t appear to be much the league can do about it.
In regards to the national game we’ve had various people in place to oversee various projects. Mark Wotte, Malky Mackay and the various reports on the game and I’m not sure if any of those people or any of the reports produced have done anything significant for the Scottish game. I would be delighted to be told I’m wrong, maybe some will say that our players are better because of performance schools and the academy ratings (current elite rated academies: Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Hamilton Academical, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Queen’s Park, Rangers & St Mirren) but again I look at the figures and the number of players coming through and it says these things aren’t making a significant difference. I’ve even heard some coaches say that they feel the national team at youth level will give a huge preference to players who are at performance schools ahead of those who aren’t, even if they are performing to a better level in the under-age leagues. I’ll be honest and say that is one situation I have no real idea about but given the history of the FA and attempts to justify anything they’ve put in place, it wouldn’t surprise me.
On a more positive note, there are some brilliant people within the Scottish game and top of that list are the thousands of parents and the coaches and helpers who work to keep the grass roots level going, and there many more looking to get involved in it. More needs to be done to get those people in and onto the SFA pathways, especially if they have the capability of going into senior roles. The courses run by the staff at the SFA in my experience and in the words of many top coaches are first class so we have to ensure clubs are making use of them and also ensuring that their coaches, scouts, analysts and so on are working with a best practice methodology in mind. I had the pleasure of listening to Steven McDonald who was a good example of this in my opinion. He is Head of Youth Recruitment at Hearts, and while I didn’t totally buy into everything he presented I still thoroughly enjoyed listening to him, his passion and the clarity in which he works within were inspiring and he is a credit to Hearts.
Through my own studies I’ve met many who fall on both sides of the coin (people inside and outside of the game) and the most common theme is that the best ones I’ve met have no real power in the grand scheme of things, or for those outside trying to get in they are finding that nepotism is rife and who you know is 10x more important than what you know in many cases. The one thing the majority of them will acknowledge is that many of those who do hold the power to bring positive change in the game won’t do it unless it pays out for them.
Those who get the chance to be actively involved in football in my opinion should view it as a privilege and the higher you go the more chances you have to give back to the game….. or at least that’s how I feel it should be, but I also know it’s not really about the sport anymore. It’s business, and certainly not a charitable one so the route to changing the mindset isn’t easy and will require some bold and brave actions to get us back on the right track. Hopefully someone in one of those positions is brave enough to step up and push for change or back those who step up to the plate with ideas that can bring about positive change.
Just before we finish up we have to go back to Steve Clarke and his coaching team because that’s where we started.
Does he along with his team have what it takes to keep the national team at a level where we continue to qualify for major tournaments and at the same time look to move himself and us on a level or two in terms of our style of play?
In my opinion we don’t have the quality to go and take on the best head to head just now, so we will need more games like the 1-0 vs Spain or digging out the 2-1 away to Norway, but we also need to be looking to at progression and that starts with the other games and build things up and there are templates for that. Austria is probably the best one right now, a team who have seen a real change in dynamics under Ralf Rangnick without needing to make major changes to the squad and quality wise we aren’t all that far off of them so it can be done.
I like what Steve Clarke has done to get us to this point and respect his record. I question if we have a candidate to replace him that does better. Obvious options look like McInnes or Moyes both of whom have very similar styles. Structured and built on being tough to beat. The SFA are extremely unlikely to appoint a foreign coach so that really does narrow the field. So, I wouldn’t be disappointed if he stays, and I think he’s earned the right to expect a little patience and see how we do in the upcoming games in the Nations League Poland, Portugal and Croatia.
Last but not lease the support…. Wow.
The words of Phillip Lahm just about do the Tartan Army justice:
These days, I sit in the stadium every day and experience an intense time. It makes me realise what football does and how its folklore is part of overcoming the many problems of our time.
That brings us to the Scots. They did everything right. They marched through Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart singing. Even in cities where they weren’t playing, they infected everyone with their good humour. Scottish fans really wanted to play a match against my home club, FT Gern. It took place the day after the opening game and afterwards everyone sat together in the clubhouse until late at night. They used this tournament to celebrate with others. They want to be part of Europe. It’s not just the caterers who will miss them. I’ve been asked what bothers me most about this Euros. I said that the Scots have already gone home.
Participating in the event, sharing in the excitement of victory and defeat, orderly escalation – that’s what every sporting event is about, whether in the arena or on the village square. The whole thing makes us resilient and prevents worse things from happening in the world. That is the calming effect of sporting events. Writers and sociologists say that; I see it the same way. Let’s be who we are, let’s all be Scots!
If anyone doubts there is a desire to see the national team do well just look at the backing in Germany. I didn’t go over but everyone I know who did loved it and were as excited as kids at Christmas. It’s just a pity they came home looking like all they’d got for being an amazing support who deserved something really good was a lump of coal, but there is always next time……
Thanks for reading
RH