The Tartan Army want Steve Clarke to shake things up, but what are his options to give Scotland a spark?
ANDY NEWPORT: I’d bring in John Souttar to give us a better passing option out of defence after seeing Grant Hanley struggle to find a five yard forward pass. And Ben Doak deserves a start after his bright cameo. The country could do with something to offer excitement and the Liverpool kid is our best hope on that front.
CRAIG SWAN:Scotland had a spark against Poland in their play. They just didn’t defend properly and made individual errors. Cut those out and improvement is automatic.
MICHAEL GANNON: That’s the problem – there aren’t many. Doak is an obvious shout, but the youngster is just a name to throw into the mix right now as we don’t really know what he can do. Clarke isn’t leaving out any superstars, he just needs the likes of Aaron Hickey, Lewis Ferguson, Kieran Tierney and Che Adams to get back and the others to step up and screw the nut in the meantime.
It’s now one win in 13 for the national side – and that was against Gibraltar – so where has it gone wrong?
ANDY: Confidence has evaporated after those sore defeats to the likes of England, France and Holland earlier this year. There were signs of it returning against the Poles but individual blunders cost us dear.
CRAIG: Tough opponents and below-par performances are a bad mix. The opposition gets no easier in the next five games, so Clarke has to tighten them up, although it doesn’t help not having Kieran Tierney and Aaron Hickey.
MICHAEL: Defending. Scotland have forgotten how to be hard to beat and are shipping goals at an alarming rate. That’s three or more conceded in six of the last 13 games. Then, when we do try to be tight, we don’t have the pace or cutting edge to cause problems on the break. It’s a brutal combo.
We’ve got Portugal and Croatia to come, as well as Poland away, how do you see the rest of the Nations League going for Scotland?
ANDY: It’s likely to be a smelly run of fixtures but we knew that before we kicked off the Nations League campaign. We’re in amongst the big boys and even when on top form we’d be long shots to challenge for top spot. A draw in Lisbon could help lift sagging spirits, though.
CRAIG: It’s going to be a struggle, but we always knew that, so use it to blood players and try things, such as moving Ryan Christie into his Bournemouth position alongside Billy Gilmour in midfield.
MICHAEL: It’s hard to see anything but more pain on the way against the top sides. These matches should be used to figure out a way of going back to basics and making like tough for teams, rather than gifting goals.
Should Steve Clarke’s position be up for debate if the Nations League becomes a struggle?
ANDY: Only if there’s no sign of an uplift. We can’t afford to go into the World Cup qualifiers on a downer and end up playing catch up. But if Clarke can get his team at least heading in an upward trajectory he’s earned his shot at leading the team to the US, Canada and Mexico.
CRAIG: No it should not. How many points were we going to get from the section even if the Euros was a success? It’s like punishing him for getting the country into the A groups. Would we rather be Northern Ireland beating Luxembourg in Group C?
MICHAEL: There will be no avoiding it. Results are a manager’s currency and a few more bad ones will put the spotlight on Scotland’s. Clarke has shown over a prolonged period of time he can get the best of his group and deserves a crack at the World Cup regardless. The fans might not be so patient though.