Ever since Craig Levein assumed the reins as Scotland manager over two years ago, we have been repeatedly informed that the focus has been on making progress, as Levein sets about building a squad of players capable of ending a 14-year (and counting) exile from the major tournaments.
The mantra has continued, and we are regularly invited to sign up to that party line. Progress, we are told, is being made, and the future looks bright. However, some might suggest this is despite appearances to the contrary.
Regardless of the failure to qualify for Euro 2012 (from a group that could be described as mediocre at best), Levein maintains that, going forward, the national side is in a healthy place. However, following the awful mauling the Scots received at the hands of USA at the weekend (5-1), it would take powers of spin beyond even Levein to convince us that Scotland are likely to qualify for the World Cup in Brazil in two years’ time.
Of course, it must be acknowledged that the match in Florida was effectively an end-of-season friendly with precisely nothing at stake. That fact, however, cannot be allowed to disguise what was a horror show from Scotland.
After all, Levein himself had spent the build-up to the match emphasising the importance of the fixture as far as Scotland’s World Cup campaign was concerned. We were told that, far from being meaningless, the game represented the start of the preparations for the campaign, which kicks off in September.
Within that context, we have to regard the outcome of the game as a major setback to Scottish hopes. Just as a victory would have been lauded as significant in terms of such aspirations, so the drubbing that ensued must be considered for what it is. No amount of spin about progress can gloss over this latest embarrassment.
This time last week, as the players gathered prior to departure, those who questioned the validity of the fixture were firmly reprimanded by Levein’s assistant, Peter Houston. We had wrongly assumed this was effectively a players’ holiday, and were assured by a bullish Houston that the squad was heading for some ‘hard work.’
You suspect that the irony of his words wouldn’t subsequently be lost on the Dundee United manager, when the sports pages were subsequently filled for a few days with pictures of the players cavorting on golf buggies and lying around in polo shirts soaking up the warm sunshine. Few could afford hard work like that.
More seriously, the evidence would go on to suggest that the holiday spirit was continued into the match itself, as the USA tore their opponents apart with relative ease. Two early goals meant the game was virtually over as a contest before fifteen minutes had elapsed.
Even by Scotland’s appalling record in friendlies in recent seasons, the 5-1 scoreline was an abject humiliation. Nevertheless, you have to wonder why such fixtures are seriously considered when anyone can see that the players are not interested in travelling lengthy distances to play in fixtures devoid of consequence, especially at the end of a long season. The SFA might do well to spare the nation such lamentable performances in future.
For some two decades now, the perceived wisdom has been that a discernible decline in the Scottish game has been evident. The days of luminaries such as Baxter, Law, Dalglish, Souness, etc are fading into the distance with every passing qualification failure. That said, some decent results have been gleaned along the way, although this has by and large been the result of blood, sweat and tears rather than panache or tactical guile.
And that’s why Scotland shouldn’t do friendlies. Without passion, and something at stake, we might as well forget about it. The sad fact is that Scotland’s players are not good enough to win matches in which they give less than total commitment.
Doubtless Levein will insist the exercise was meaningful in terms of enhancing squad bonding, and the match itself will be shrugged off as (yet another) bad day at the office. However, he would be wise to recall that, following the failure to qualify for the last world cup, a 3-0 loss in a friendly to Wales led to the sacking of his predecessor, George Burley.
Curiously, Levein has yet to be on the receiving end of the same levels of vitriolic criticism Burley had to endure. Nevertheless, further losses like this USA debacle could result in positive noises around progress being drowned by the sound of the grim reaper growling once more.