Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Something to build on for hurting Scots
SCOTLAND’S failure to keep their World Cup qualifying campaign alive was bitterly disappointing.
There’s no getting away from that. But let’s not get all doom and gloom about it and start feeling sorry for ourselves.
Because the one thing different about our latest failure is at least there are some positives to take.
Unlike previous debacles when it’s been a case of basically starting again from scratch, this time we at least have some positives to build on.
The team’s recent form has actually been decent and in players like Stuart Armstrong, Kieran Tierney and Andy Robertson there are very good players there who have long and bright international futures ahead of them.
Gutted as they’ll be at missing out on a place in Russia next summer, this campaign will be valuable to them in terms of experience.
And there are also some slightly older members of the squad who’ll still have something to offer when the next Euros and even World Cup come round.
I would say time is up for the likes of Darren Fletcher and Scott Brown. I’d be surprised if we see them in a Scotland shirt again.
But I feel John McGinn is a natural successor to them in the middle of the park, so I’m not too worried over their time in the international arena coming to an end.
That, of course, leaves the question of manager Gordon Strachan’s future.
Having looked finished after a poor start to the group, he did have a revival over the past year and maybe has done enough to be allowed to continue in his role.
Some will agree that should be the case, others won’t.
My hunch is the matter will be settled by him announcing he’s decided to stand down.
Strachan has been keeping his cards close to his chest but the vibe I got from his comments after the final whistle against Slovenia on Sunday was that he probably felt almost five years in the job was enough.
If he is going, at least he will leave in the knowledge the squad is in a better shape than when he took it over.
He has had his ups and downs, though, and I have to say I do think he got his tactics wrong on Sunday.
That said, he and his players gave it their best shot.