STRACHAN’S MEN FAIL TO CATCH FIRE ON A NIGHT FULL OF DAMP SQUIBS
NO pyrotechnics before the kick-off and precious few after it. The Scottish FA have ditched their habit of completing the pre-match entertainment and welcoming the teams to the field at Hampden Park with the fireworks and flamethrowers of old.
It is now time they started thinking about the identity of their next manager as he likelihood is that this one will soon have no place in such occasions either.
How distant that wonderful first half in Poland or that gutsy win over the Republic of Ireland during the ultimately unsuccessful Euro 2016 campaign seem.
Gordon Strachan, a fine coach with a solid CV, simply lost the ability to keep his side performing at that level some time before the costly loss in Georgia just over a year ago and not even changing the personnel of the starting XI to freshen things up is making the required difference.
There is an intensity missing, a lack of purpose. Let us not be misled by the ball bouncing off James McArthur’s shoulder with a minute to play and rescuing a draw amid a frantic, late assault. This was, contrary to Strachan’s public opinion, a must-win game. The team failed to achieve the objective.
No matter the events of the closing moments, the punters could see what was unfolding before them, too. The whistles started to echo around Mount Florida by the midway point of the first 45minutes last night and had descended into jeers by the interval.
At full-time, the boos remained clearly audible. The party is, already, dangerously close to being over and another unsuccessful campaign has to bring about a change in management, no matter the idle thoughts SFA president Alan McRae had to keep Strachan in position until 2020.
It may not be time for Strachan to bow out quite yet, but those inside Hampden need to start planning for the future. It is hard to see how things can be turned around now. Tuesday evening in Slovakia could pretty much be the end of the attempt to make it to Russia 2018 as a meaningful enterprise.
It says much that the biggest cheer of the night came on 71 minutes when Leigh Griffiths replaced Matt Ritchie.
The one big question to be raised over Strachan’s team selection on the night was to stick with Chris Martin at centre-forward. The Tartan Army certainly used the opportunity to make it clear which available striker they believed should have been on the field.
Martin did score at a crucial time in the 5-1 win over Malta in the opening match of the section, but he has not managed a goal at club level all season in 12 appearances for Derby County and Fulham, whom he joined on loan at the end of the transfer window.
Griffiths was in prolific form at Celtic prior to suffering a hamstring injury ahead of last month’s Glasgow derby and has been unable to reclaim his place from Moussa Dembele, but he is an everimproving player and someone Scotland supporters are eager to see being given a proper chance.
He is only truly natural goalscorer we have.
Steven Fletcher, Strachan’s go-to man during that failed Euro 2016 campaign, has also been doing well for Sheffield Wednesday, scoring three times in his last six outings.
Goals are not everything. They are not Fletcher’s strong point, in all honesty, but he does, at least, hold the play up well as the lone frontman and is intelligent. He brings other players into the game.
Martin did little of that. In fairness, he was forced to feed off scraps, actually doing quite well to stick out a foot despite the attentions of Egidijus Vaitkunas on 25 minutes and force an effort wide of the post.
He should perhaps have done better, though, early in the second period when getting on the end of a most inviting cross from Andy Robertson and failing to get his header on target.
That was more or less the sum total of his involvement. There was little else of real note.
If his inclusion was a risk that backfired, the same could possibly be said for the decision to play Oliver Burke.
There is already such expectation on young Burke’s shoulders. You can sense it in the crowd. We all wanted to see him, but the conclusion to be drawn from this affair is that, although undoubtedly talented and a player we ought to cherish, he is not quite ready for international football.
A £13million price tag creates a certain electricity, of course, particularly when it has taken you to a competition as glamorous and, more importantly, respected as the Bundesliga. His career at RB Leipzig is only in its infancy, his game unrefined and lacking in any real sense of defensive responsibility and work off the ball.
However, he is tall. And strong. And quick.
After two initial touches that saw him lose possession instantly, he received the ball wide right facing the goal on 15 minutes and, immediately, burst into a gallop.
The crowd, strangely quiet in the initial stages, came to life as he surged past handful of yellow jerseys before being stopped in his tracks by an unlawful tackle from Vaidas Slavickas.
In many ways, it was a frustrating night for him. Eight minutes before the break, a trick came off. He chested the ball down with his back to goal, left his man for dead and then stumbled in the area under pressure from Edvinas Girdvainis after storming into a dangerous position, receiving something of a talking-to from referee Tobias Stieler.
He switched wings with Matt Ritchie just before the interval and, within moments, found himself getting a bit of a joy. A clever stepover and pass towards the onrunning Ritchie in the centre of the field, applauded by his worshippers-inwaiting, was only cleared at the last minute by the desperate swing of a Lithuanian boot.
Having been put back on the right at the start of the second period, though, he would only last another 12 minutes before making way for James Forrest.
There is strength and acceleration there. He will damage teams.
However, he needs time to settle into his new surroundings and time to grow, time to develop a little more focus in his game. One can argued that Strachan’s trained eye should, perhaps, have realised this in training.
We might win in Trnava on Tuesday and turn everything on its head. We probably won’t.
If that is the case, it will be time to look towards building for the next European Championship and the first step in that process will surely be sourcing a replacement for Strachan.