WRITING this column has been fun and enjoyable.
It’s given me a platform to talk about Scotland at the Euros and everything about it has been a pleasure.
I’ve mentioned my family, had a laugh about things that happened in the past, given some insight, and it’s been a hugely positive experience…
Until now.
Because this was the one I always knew was coming. The analysis piece on where it all went wrong for Scotland. The time to give answers to questions everyone is asking.
The column I was dreading.
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But, you know what, there isn’t anything I can say that anyone wants to hear.
People can talk all they like about the manager, the players, the tactics, the system, the referee.
They can drone on about how Steve Clarke should have made different changes to his line-up.
They ask why James Forrest didn’t play. Why he waited to throw on Lawrence Shankland.
John McGinn might get it, or Scott McTominay, or Andy Robertson.
But, no, that’s not an argument.
You know what I’d do, I’d point to the imaginary players we DON’T have in our squad and why they’re not there.
The really fast players with a genuine turn of pace. The ones who can eliminate people with a piece of wonderful skill. The ones with real imagination who see passes nobody else can see.
But the reason we don’t have them in the squad is because they don’t exist.
And they’ve not existed for a very long time now.
We had James McFadden a few years ago and he was someone who could produce a moment of magic out of nothing.
He’d say himself he was never a world class player. He was a scorer of great goals, not a great goalscorer.
But what he brought to the team was something different and we don’t have type that any more.
There’s young Ben Doak, a boy I’ve watched for a number of years now, and he’s super quick, don’t worry about that.
Hopefully in the years to come he’s someone who will improve. But in the here and now?
Nope, it’s a figment of everyone’s imagination.
When Steve looked around at his bench the other night in Stuttgart, with 20 minutes to go, he’s not seeing any of that.
We don’t have a Luka Modric like Croatia have, a Robert Lewandowski who plays for Poland.
For years Zlatan Ibrahimovic carried Sweden in the same way Gareth Bale did for Wales.
Hearts fans might say to me how Shankland is a great finisher and I’d go along with that. He’s the best finisher we have in the squad.
But what chance is he going to get?
He could be the best finisher in the world but if there isn’t an opportunity for him, he’s not going to score a goal.
Moyes on Clarke
By Ryan Rowe
DAVID MOYES is adamant Steve Clarke has been excellent as the Scotland manager.
But that didn’t stop him from shutting down the idea that he could succeed the former Kilmarnock boss as the man in charge of the national team.
The ex-West Ham United, Manchester United and Everton gaffer was asked for his thoughts on the position and whether he would consider taking it.
Moyes admitted he does look at the Hampden post in a positive light and praised the faithful fans for their backing.
“It’s a really good job. Steve has been brilliant and that is why everybody is behind it.
“You look at the amount of Scotland fans who have travelled, you look at the national anthem. You look at the way supporters have behaved themselves. They have been a credit to the nation.
“Maybe the team has fallen a little bit below that, at times, but I think the supporters have been magnificent. They really have been.”
He insisted Clarke has done superb work in the role BUT the man himself might decide he wants a break after five years.
“I believe the Scotland job will be a good job for any manager.
“Some managers, who have worked quite hard over the years, sometimes need a break and take a wee bit of time before you do anything. Look, I have to say, and you know me, I will always stick up for managers the way I see it.
“None of you can say Steve has not done a terrific job. Steve Clarke has done a brilliant job.”
The point is that this has been a recurring theme for a long, long time now.
Now, it’s a huge conversation on why we’re not producing these types of players.
But the reality is that we don’t have them so when it comes to a game like the other night, it’s too easy and simplistic to say the manager should have made changes sooner and gone about things entirely differently.
Listen, no-one will be thinking about that more than Steve. Trust me.
He’ll have every aspect of that game churning around in his mind and I can guarantee he’ll point at himself, no-one else.
He’ll be scrutinising himself, he won’t are pointing any fingers and talking about anyone else.
His coaching staff may also wonder if they could have said something to affect things.
He could look at things like the set-plays and ask if that could have been better.
But he’ll always come back to what he could have done differently, when the truth is that nobody knows whether anything would have made the blindest bit of difference.
I’ve been in the situation before when I consider situations with hindsight but it’s a waste of time. Because who knows if it would have changed anything.
I mean, it could have ended up WORSE.
I know Steve talked about the penalty incident with Stuart Armstrong late in the game but I wasn’t so sure about it.
When I first watched it, I shouted for a penalty.
But looking at it again, I thought Stuart was trying to get his body across the defender and they both stumbled at the same time.
But anyway, say it was given. And say we scored. Would that have made a big difference to what we thought?
It may have made matters worse by papering over the problems we’ve got!
It’s just so desperately disappointing for the manager, the players, the backroom staff and the Scotland supporters who went to Germany in huge numbers to back the team.
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And, I have to say, I’m disappointed for myself. Because I have been enjoying these columns and been excited about the Scotland games when they were coming around.
Now I’ve been eliminated too.
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