The upwards trajectory upon which Steve Clarke had Scotland merrily travelling is starting to seem like a distant memory.
The desperately disappointing European Championship campaign and the run of just one win in their last 12 matches – a friendly struggle against Gibraltar – was reflected yesterday in a dramatic drop down the world rankings, the Scots slipping nine places to 48th.
That in itself may mean little, but there is no getting away from the fact that the feelgood factor Clarke did so well to rebuild around the national team has now dissipated alarmingly.
The nation has yet to hear anything from Clarke or the Scottish FA over his future, while the players have also gone to ground since the immediate aftermath of the defeat to Hungary that ended the dream of qualification to the knockout stages of the Euros.
Finally, though, one of their number has stuck his head above the parapet, and striker Lawrence Shankland broke that silence with a defiant message to critics of Clarke and this Scotland team.
The Hearts forward might have had as much reason as any Scot to take the hump with Clarke, given his own lack of minutes on the pitch in Germany, but Shankland thinks those who have the knives out for the Scotland manager have short memories.
He acknowledges that the performances over the last year or so, and particularly in the Euros, have to be addressed, but he is confident that Clarke is the man to pick the country up once more in the forthcoming Nations League campaign.
“He has got us to the two major tournaments, and it wasn’t so long ago that we hadn’t been to one in I don't know how many years,” Shankland said.
“So, there is the credit you get from that in the bank. Moving forward, we will look at what went wrong at the Euros, but we still have a lot to look forward to. There is still a lot to go and achieve as a group and that's what we want to do.
“I think overall the feeling will be disappointment, obviously. We wanted to go there and progress from the group stage, first and foremost, and we fell short of that so there is overall disappointment.
“It will take a wee while for us to come away from it and reassess everything. By the time September comes around I'm sure there will be a few conversations to be had about what we feel we could improve on.
“It is still pretty raw, and it was difficult when we still had the rest of the tournament to watch, but the analysis will be done and I'm sure we will talk about it when we get together.
“When you get the experience of the games and the feeling of coming out even for the warm-ups with the crowd behind you, it’s incredible. Small moments like that you can take away from it and those memories will last a lifetime.
“But there was disappointment with the results, and it was difficult to watch the rest of the games.”
There was widespread puzzlement among the Tartan Army around just how sparingly Shankland was used at the Euros, coming on as a substitute in all three group games, but always in the latter stages.
With no Lyndon Dykes, Clarke leaned heavily on Che Adams, with Shankland entering the action in the 82nd minute against Germany, the 89th minute against Switzerland and the 76th minute against Hungary.
He didn’t go looking for an explanation from his manager though, as much as the Scotland support may have been craving one.
“He has more on his mind than worrying about speaking to me about the decisions he had to make throughout the tournament,” he said.
“It is a squad game and especially at national level, when you are asked to go away and represent your country, it is always a proud moment, no matter how much time you get on the pitch.
“Of course, everyone has frustrations, and everyone wants to play more minutes and start games, but as a collective we have always grouped together and been good team-mates and everybody has played their part.
“Of course [I would have liked to play more], as would everybody who was starting on the bench for the games. That's the nature of football.
“I have always said no matter what role you are asked to play for the national team, you go and you do it. I feel that has been a strength of the squad throughout. No matter what part people have been asked to play, they have done it the best they can and that’s what it's all about.
“Unfortunately, you want those who come on to come up with that bit of magic or make that wee bit of difference to help us, but it wasn't for the lack of trying. Everybody did the best they could, and we just fell short.”
The lingering hangover from the Euros will then, Shankland is confident, be blown away by the time the squad get together again in September for the tests against Poland and Portugal.
Read more:
- Scotland deserves Clarke mea culpa to get Euros closure
-
What Steve Clarke told Scotland dressing room after Hungary defeat
“Of course, we were all disappointed but in football you learn to move on pretty fast,” he said.
“The games move on that quickly that I don’t think you have time to dwell on it.
“We have another challenge coming up, in the Nations League, and we want to go into those games and do well. Then, going forward, we have the World Cup qualifiers so there is always something else on the horizon that we can aim for.
“So, while it would be silly not to address it and have a chat about it, and where we think we went wrong, so we can learn from our mistakes going forward, but there is a lot ahead of us that we can go and achieve and I think that has to be the mindset.”
