THE pain of Scotland’s failure to reach the Euro 2016 finals was exacerbated in the summer when Iceland, Northern Ireland and Wales all performed exceptionally in France.
If far smaller countries can qualify and progress through to the knockout stages then why, a fair few disgruntled members of the Tartan Army asked, can't our national team?
The inability to even finish third in Group D and secure a play-off spot looked progressively worse as the tournament went on. The pressure on and criticism of Gordon Strachan increased significantly during June and July without his players kicking a ball.
Yet, Strachan, who yesterday announced his squad for the opening World Cup qualifier against Malta at the Ta’ Qali Stadium next month, is undeterred. He is adamant there are positives to take from a campaign which promised much before it unravelled. He remains determined to deliver the success supporters crave.
To do so, though, he believes that his Scotland side will have to deliver the “big result” which eluded them during their last qualifying bid and which two of their main rivals, Poland and the Republic of Ireland, recorded.
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The 59-year-old stopped short of mentioning England – the top seeds in Group F who they will face at Wembley in November – by name but it is obvious that he feels getting a result against our near neighbours will be important to our prospects of reaching Russia 2018.
“When I took the job I said you’ve a chance to make a nation happy,” said Strachan. “It’s still the same. That’s what I’m going to try and do. The target for me is to make a nation happy.
“The last group was hard. Look at the teams who qualified – Poland got beat by the eventual winners on penalties, Germany could have won it and the Republic of Ireland got to the last 16.
“It was a hard group, but we enjoyed the challenge. At times, we were scared of nobody. Maybe for a while in the first half here against Germany we thought ‘they are just a bit good them’ but for the rest of the time we were fine.
“But for a couple of seconds here and there it might have been different last time around. If you look back, we need a big result to make the difference. So now we have to take it a stage further and find three more points, a big win, somewhere in the group. I know it will be stressful at times, but it’s a great challenge.”
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Both Poland and the Republic of Ireland managed to defeat world champions Germany during Euro 2016 qualifying and Strachan feels that sort of rousing result is what Scotland require to end an absence from the finals of a major tournament that stretches back to France ’98. He is confident it is an obtainable objective.
“The Germany game is where Poland and the Republic of Ireland got their big result,” he said. “But you can look at the stats for the Germany versus Republic of Ireland game and our stats were better, even hitting the target. Sometimes one shot is enough and that's the way it goes. You have to take that hit and get on with it.”
Strachan was persuaded to stay on as Scotland manager by fans who chanted his name and applauded him as his team rounded off their unsuccessful attempt to make it through to Euro 2016 with a 6-0 win over Gibraltar away last October.
He believes that he retains their support, despite the hammering he has taken on social media, internet message boards and radio phone-ins in recent months, and has predicted their continued backing will help their chances.
“There’s different ways of calling it (Euro 2016 qualifying) failure,” he said. “If you talk about 12,000 people clapping and saying ‘well done’ (against Gibraltar) that was good.
“You can only compete. I asked the players “did you feel good about yourself and the way you play?’ Yes. I asked them ‘will you look back and take something from it?’ Yes. In the bluntest sense, we failed. But we were fourth seeds and ended up fourth. So you could say that’s where they are meant to have ended up.
“The players give me optimism and the fans’ reaction from that night through to meeting people on the plane this morning. The real punters. Every time someone says ‘keep it up, we like what we’re seeing’ that’s inspiring. You meet people in the street who say ‘you’re doing fine’.”
Strachan’s reliance on the same nucleus of players has frustrated those Scotland supporters who would like to see him blood more youngsters. But he pointed to the presence of Oliver Burke, Barrie McKay, John McGinn, Callum Paterson and Kieran Tierney in his 23 man squad as evidence that he is promoting youth. He also promised there would be changes.
“Two years ago I thought we were playing some terrific football,” he said. “At that point there were people on top of their game. But it has changed. So you’ve got to say now ‘who are the best players and what is the best system for these players?’
“I feel good. I like coaching. I like being with the players, mingling with them, working with them. So I’m excited about that. Having a couple of younger players in there freshens it up a bit. It definitely adds something.”
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