Truth can hurt as coach hits back at criticism
Scotland’s lack of progress puts pressure on Martinez Losa
MANY moons ago, deep in t he bowels of Hampden, a br i ef lesson in perception and reality wa s delivered succinctly but effectively. As another major tournament looked like leaving Scotland with their noses pressed against the glass, again, the generally affable Darren Fletcher took exception to a line of questioning in a cluttered mixed zone and in the aftermath of a poor result that was in keeping with the national team of that time.
Bristling, the then Manchester United midfielder suggested that there was some glee on the part of cr i t i quing j ournalists around Scotland’s failure to qualify. He was very quickly corrected as one hack refused to allow the dig to pass unchallenged, pointing out that working at a major tournament is every bit as enjoyable for journalists as it is for players. Furthermore, that everyone in the room was a Scotland fan and wished the country to do well.
Fletcher, an ar t i culate and generally amiable fellow, accepted the retort with grace.
The point is that journalists can support their national side but they are not there to act as cheerleaders. Nor are they there to accept a manager’s account of a version of events which jars with what their eyes have seen.
There is nothing personal about criticism. It may not be easy to stomach and there may be caveats that managers and coaches feel are overlooked but this is a necessary aspect of a working media. Women’s football seems particularly brittle in this regard.
And last week when Scotland women’s manager Pedro Martinez Losa spoke of “agendas” and “manipulated narratives”, it was difficult to escape the feeling that it was deflection for an under-pressure manager.
Chat of being paid the same to manage the team in competitive games as he is for non-competitive games is an absurd comparison; definitive judgment comes to pass on the back of how teams perform and compete when it matters. And, ultimately, that means in qualifying for major tournaments.
There is no agenda when it comes to pointing out that an eight-game winless run in competitive games does not point to progress. There is no narrative at play other than the facts speaking for themselves.
Martinez Losa can point to the win over Australia and Costa Rica as evidence of his side holding their own against teams who competed at this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup but ultimately it has to be done when it counts.
Upset at the persistent highlighting of the winless competitive run – which ended with Sophie Howard’s header on Tuesday night against Slovakia – Martinez Losa asked if we expected his team to beat World Cup finalists England and the Netherlands, placed in the top 10 of FIFA world rankings.
He is right to highlight the players he has lost. Caroline Weir is world class and her absence was always going to be felt keenly. Emma Watson is not quite in that bracket yet but, again, was always going to be a loss. There have been others along the way and he has had to cope with an unsettled squad in terms of injuries to key players.
But this is a squad that has more players than ever before competing at the top level of domestic football. Erin Cuthbert will spend this week preparing for a women’s Champions League s e mi - f i n a l against Barcelona.
The bottom line is that this is not a Scotland side who look as though they are moving forward and no amount of prickly responses can gloss over it.
AND ANOTHER THING
There would be no great shock to hear Alan Brazil bumping his gums this week about England women’s game against the Republic of Ireland being shown on ITV.
The pundit questioned “the point” of it when the Champions League was on. As it turned out, the women’s game was watched by an audience of 1,479,000 viewers while Arsenal’s Champions League game drew in 617,000 viewers, City’s 685,000. While the Champions League games aired on subscription channels with the women’s game on terrestrial TV, with such numbers it would be hard to suggest there is no appetite to watch it.
AND FINALLY
Rangers host Glasgow City this afternoon in an intriguing contest at Broadwood.
The reigning SWPL champions are four points adrift of league leaders Rangers who have set the pace throughout the campaign at the top of the table. Few would write City off given their experience and pedigree but the reality is that they can ill afford to come out of this one on the back of a defeat.