Appearance of former Scotland managers in Nations League defeat to Slovenia
It had started as a celebration of Andy Robertson reaching 100 caps but ended amid booing as Slovenia secured a thoroughly deserved victory on a night when Oli McBurnie exceeded 1000 minutes without an international goal.
Everything, it seemed, had been arranged for the striker to finally get off the mark, including the presence of Steve Clarke – the manager he might regard as his nemesis. Instead McBurnie endured another difficult outing in a Scotland jersey as the national team, and Sebastien Pocognoli especially, suffered an excruciating night in front of some very special guests.
Ryan Christie’s backheeler put Scotland in front after 31 minutes but the hosts never looked comfortable. Second-half strikes from Aljosa Matko and Danijel Sturm overturned this lead and sent Scotland down to third in their Nations League group.
Slovenia's Aljosa Matko celebrates after scoring the equaliser against Scotland at Hampden. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)placeholder image
Slovenia's Aljosa Matko celebrates after scoring the equaliser against Scotland at Hampden. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group) | SNS Group
Credit to the SFA, they persuaded Alex McLeish, Gordon Strachan and Clarke to attend to present Robertson with a framed Scotland 100 shirt. Clarke might have taken some convincing, given he would have been conscious of giving his successor room to breathe.
It was a genuinely historic moment, with the picture of them all together before kick-off – Robertson and Pocognoli included - one for the annals. This couldn’t be said of the game, which failed to excite in the way many suspected judging by the number of fans who stayed away. Only 34,000 attended. Next match? North Macedonia at home on Friday 13 November. What can possibly go wrong?
When the excellent Matko shot wide on the hour mark, moments after Danijel Sturm had wasted another very good opportunity, there was the first outbreak of booing. Did that moment mark the end of Pocognoli’s honeymoon?
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The eventual defeat must definitely be regarded as a serious setback. The only bright spots were lively cameos from Josh McPake and Findlay Curtis towards the end. McBurnie was replaced after 63 minutes. Make that 1050 minutes without a Scotland goal.
Slovenia enjoyed the better of the opening half even though Scotland had reached half-time in front, thanks to Christie’s scrappy goal on the half hour mark. Only a goal-line clearance from Jack Hendry kept the score at 0-0 while Robertson slid in from somewhere beyond Lesser Hampden to block a near certain goal from Zan Vipotnik seven minutes before half time.
Although Pocognoli stressed that he did not want McBurnie obsessing about scoring his first goal, the team seemed designed to facilitate these ambitions. The Hull City forward was the further forward point, with Christie flitting about just behind. Kieron Bowie dropped down to the bench despite his fine goal in Skopje three days earlier. Harsh, in most people’s eyes.
Scotland's Oli McBurnie during the Nations League defeat to Slovenia at Hampden. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)placeholder image
Scotland's Oli McBurnie during the Nations League defeat to Slovenia at Hampden. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group) | SNS Group
Pocognoli is his own man, however. And this was a night to reinforce this point. Clarke’s presence was understandable given his closeness to Robertson and the fact he had awarded him the majority of his 101 caps. But it was still an unusual scenario and one Clarke would have found uncomfortable.
Still, it was cheering to hear him hailed by the fans despite a difficult and possibly unsatisfying end to his 81-match tenure.
It was also strange to see him standing singing the national anthem near the tunnel, in the way we have become so accustomed to watching him doing. It was also strange to see McBurnie staring straight back at someone who had been so resistant to picking him.
It seemed set up for the forward to break his duck in front of the former manager. Now on the 20-cap mark, there was some additional pressure on McBurnie. He needed a goal inside the first 13 minutes to ensure he avoided hitting the 1000-minute mark without scoring for Scotland.
He was barely involved in the opening 13 minutes. Scotland started slightly sluggishly. The 13th minute was almost significant – for Scotland conceding.
Good football from the visitors saw Sturm released down the left and his cutback was met by Adam Gnezda Cerin, who had the whole goal to aim at. He also had some obstacles to avoid, namely two or three Scotland players helping Angus Gunn defend his goal. Gnezda Cerin managed to hit one of them in Hendry, whose goal-line clearance was a real let-off.
Scotland manager Sebastien Pocognoli (right) commiserates Lewis Ferguson (left) on the pitch after the Nations League defeat to Slovenia at Hampden Park.placeholder image
Scotland manager Sebastien Pocognoli (right) commiserates Lewis Ferguson (left) on the pitch after the Nations League defeat to Slovenia at Hampden Park. | PA
Ben Gannon-Doak, whose best work had hoped to be a little bit further up field, did well averting danger when clearing off the toes of Sturm. The right wing-back was heavily involved when Scotland broke the deadlock.
The origins lay in him being cemented in midfield by a crude challenge by Erik Janza. He picked himself up again and was in position to accept the ball from John McGinn’s free kick. Rather than sling the ball in himself, the Aston Villa midfielder had chosen to send the ball wide to Gannon-Doak, who carried the ball a few yards before clipping a cross towards the back post.
Hendry’s header hit the post and amid the confusion, it seemed the big moment was about to come for McBurnie. He failed to get a decent connection with his header and the ball hit Christie, who then backheeled home.
It was the definition of a playground goal but welcome all the same. Even though he had adorned his 75th cap with a goal, his eleventh for his country, Christie might well have preferred McBurnie scoring although such details were made to seem inconsequential when Slovenia took complete control of the game in the second half.
Christie was not accurate enough with his return after Robertson’s throw-in ten minutes into the second half. When Sturm sent Matko clear with a ball through Hendry’s legs there only seemed one outcome and the No 20 finished well inside Gunn’s right-hand post.
Worse was to follow with 20 minutes left when Matko broke clear down the right and crossed for Sturm to sweep in the winner with the Scotland defence at sixes and sevens. Another Hampden defeat, the comforts of home are proving out of reach for Pocognoli at present.