Just as a single swallow doesn’t make a summer, so a narrow victory in a friendly against Estonia falls short of guaranteeing successful times ahead for the Scottish international football team.
However, those with a vested interest in the fortunes of Scotland’s national team can be forgiven for allowing themselves a glimmer of hope in the wake of recent developments.
The recent appointment of Gordon Strachan as Scotland manager was met with universal agreement north of the border. Strachan’s name had been to the fore ever since Craig Levein was relieved of his duties last October in the wake of Scotland’s calamitous start to the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Fans, reporters and other club managers alike had insisted that Strachan was the man to lift the current squad out of the doldrums, and the SFA duly obliged.
The clamour to appoint Strachan was, on the face of it, perfectly understandable. Having represented his country on 50 occasions, Strachan’s illustrious playing career with the likes of Aberdeen, Manchester United and Leeds United has since been complemented with a relatively successful managerial career, particularly, of course, with Celtic.
The change of mood when Strachan was appointed was immediately palpable. This, it must be said, was partly a legacy of the Levein era, in that the Scottish footballing public had long since grown weary of the former manager’s negative tactics, and insistence that progress was being made despite appearances to the contrary.
Strachan didn’t promise the earth at first, and, of course, he immediately displayed a level of astuteness that was seemingly beyond his predecessor. What we were told was that Scottish teams would play with more flair and attacking verve – the hope, of course, is that results will follow suit, but we Scots are a canny lot, and know only too well the limits of the current crop of players.
But Strachan not only demonstrated tactical nous in his initial utterings – we also had honesty, and, at long last, even a dash of humour thrown in. Levein’s press conferences had become occasions to dread and endure, as the manager’s intransigence and stubbornness ultimately led to his becoming embroiled in wholly unnecessary and avoidable stand-offs with fans, press and – ludicrously – players.
Strachan nicely balances cautious optimism with a careful acknowledgement that the resources at his disposal are of modest fare. His acknowledgement, too, of personal failures at Middlesbrough spoke volumes of his willingness to embrace reality, and hold his hands up when things don’t go according to plan.
Strachan’s first squad broadly reflected the players utilised to date by Levein – hardly a surprise – although his decision to recall Birmingham City’s Chris Burke and Rangers’ Lee Wallace betrayed a willingness to be his own man.
It was entirely fitting that Strachan’s first match in charge was at Pittodrie stadium, where he formed such a potent part of Alex Ferguson’s successful Aberdeen side in the early 1980s. The warmth with which he was greeted as he emerged for the match against Estonia was genuine enough, and this on an occasion when the new manager admitted to being very nervous beforehand – another example of the human side to Strachan which endears him to so many.
The match itself was of course no classic, but Scotland did play with more attacking intent than recent memory, and with a little fortune could have scored more than the one goal which ultimately won the game.
Not that the result mattered really – and it will be recalled that even Levein won his first match, a friendly victory against the Czech Republic - this was an occasion where the previous regime was consigned to bleak history, and a new era could be ushered in.
That said, even the most misty-eyed of Tartan Army fans will be looking on with a healthy dose of realism. After all, there remains much work to be done, and it will hardly be forgotten that Scotland remain at the foot of their qualifying group with a mere two points from the opening four fixtures.
Qualification remains extremely unlikely at best, despite noises in some quarters about not giving up hope. Even Gordon Strachan would acknowledge that the side’s chances of heading for Brazil next summer remain forlorn, but for now he and the rest of us can look to lift the spirits in order to ensure that the national side’s absence from major tournaments isn’t extended beyond 2016.
The forthcoming qualifiers against Wales and Serbia will tell us more in that regard, but for now one thing is certain at least – the light at the end of the tunnel has been switched on.