It was perhaps fitting that with our Alpine visitors in town, a Scotland defender’s moment of early madness left his teammates with an almighty mountain to climb.
Taking on a Switzerland side who were unfortunate not to reach the World Cup semi finals in your new manager’s second match in charge, as he attempts to implement an entirely new style of play, was going to be a monumental task in any case. But with 10 men, it was like trying to scale the Dufourspitze in a pair of Adidas Predators.
To put it another way, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Or in Sebastien Pocognoli’s case, until big Jack Hendry has a rush of blood to the head.
All the pre-match positivity that was coursing around Hampden Park was sucked from the Mount Florida sky like air from a balloon after just 11 minutes. Coincidentally, balloon was among the politer adjectives the well-oiled punters in the national stadium’s posh seats were aiming towards Scotland’s number 13 as he trudged from the pitch.
All it took was a few sharp passes in the midfield from the swish Swiss to expose Scotland’s high line, and suddenly Dan Ndoye was scarpering in on Angus Gunn. The closer the desperately retreating Hendry got to him, the more you could sense his cogs turning, and the more you felt he should just let the Nottingham Forest man be and get his shot away.
Instead, he couldn’t resist the urge to stick his arm up, hauling Ndoye to the ground to the sound of 41,000-odd mass groans. Referee Nenad Minakovic initially pointed to the spot and cautioned Hendry, but the cheers from the crowd as he indicated a VAR review showed the infringement actually took place outside of the box were to prove prematurely jubilant.
Those of us aware of the strange quirks of the modern rulebook knew that meant Hendry’s punishment would subsequently be upgraded to a red, and of course, with the left foot Swiss veteran Ricardo Rodriguez has been blessed with, there was a fair old chance he would stick a free shot from 18.1 yards into the pokey in any case. Which he duly did, a little too easily past Gunn perhaps, who was standing on that side, leaving the Scots a man and a goal down.
Even worse, Kieron Bowie had to be sacrificed on his first start for Scotland to allow Stephen Welsh to enter the fray. Oh, to be a fly on the wall to witness the exchange as the big striker quickly followed Hendry into the dressing room.
The ref wasn’t half drawing the ire of the Hampden crowd, who felt that the vast majority of the marginal calls were going the way of the visitors, and that he was buying the bill of goods they were often overselling when it came to any minimal contact upon their person. Ironically, with the Swiss involved, his neutrality was being severely questioned. As well as the marital status of his parents.
The Scottish players were clearly frustrated too. Every time the hyper-industrious, super-competitive Oli McBurnie was penalised for the mildest infringement, for instance, his reaction was one of complete and utter exasperation.
There was nothing to be gained from the Scottish players getting sucked into the Tartan Army’s feeling of being hard done by, though. And to McBurnie’s credit, he did channel his anger constructively for the most part.
For all that much will be made of the fact he has now gone 18 caps without a goal, the reception he got from the fans when he ran out of puff just before the hour mark and was replaced by Robbie Ure told you everything about his performance, and how he has changed perceptions of him north of the border. The wayward son has been welcomed back into the fold alright, winning over any remaining sceptical hearts and minds with a wholehearted but ultimately thankless display up top.
It was a shame that it was he who switched off for just a millisecond to allow Nico Elvedi to steal away from him and poke home the second Swiss goal that all but killed the contest. But at the other end, he did everything asked of him and more. Yes, yes, apart from putting the ball in the net, but if he keeps at it, there is no doubt it will come.
Salt was rubbed into home wounds as Zeki Amdouni crashed a rocket through Gunn and into the roof of the net late on, and it has to be hoped that the scoreline doesn’t dent Scottish belief in the Pocognoli project.
It is still too early, and too difficult to judge how it all might unfold, and against this standard of opposition in these circumstances, a 3-0 defeat was actually not a complete disaster.
There was some good stuff in there, too. Scotland tried to play when they could, and when they built from the back, some of it was good to watch. The new boys in the squad, like Ure and here, Luis Binks, have shown up well.
It’s just a shame that Pocognoli’s Scotland have only one point and no goals as yet to show for their efforts across their opening two Nations League matches. Understanding will be extended the way of the Belgian for now, but a win in North Macedonia on Saturday night now takes on even greater importance.
The Tartan Army will keep the faith. Now, if the team can just keep 11 men on the park…
