Surely few would disagree that Gordon Strachan’s appointment as Scotland manager nearly two years ago, quickly resulted in a welcome (and long overdue) return of the feel good factor as far as the national side’s prospects were concerned.
Performances noticeably improved, and so too did results, albeit they were mostly gleaned from matches of no real consequence as far as promoting participation in major tournaments was concerned. The acid test, after all, would be whether this heightened sense of improvement – and therefore expectation too – would be translated into a successful qualifying campaign for the 2016 European championships in France.
Despite this new found optimism, the fact that Scotland were drawn in a tough qualifying group with world champions Germany, Poland and a resurgent Republic of Ireland, would hardly have led to even the most optimistic of Tartan Army devotees rushing out to book his flights across the English Channel just quite yet.
However, with three games played, the Scots are definitely in the mix, (unlike the recent world cup campaign, which was as good as over before half of the fixtures had been played) and the dream of taking a place in a first major finals since back in 1998 (also in France) is a real prospect, if far from certain.
The opening defeat against the Germans was narrow enough, and in fact the single goal loss could so easily have been a draw given the Scots’ performance in Dortmund against a side who admittedly appear to be nursing the mother of world cup-winning hangovers. Cue the usual groans about glorious failure, although they were silenced by the following win against Georgia, which saw a performance that was delivered with panache and no little flair, and ultimately was far more comfortable than the 1-0 score suggested.
Indeed, few contested Strachan’s own assertion that that particular game saw some of the finest passages of play from the boys in dark blue during his time in the hot seat.
And then to Poland, a team riding the wave of optimism triggered by a first ever competitive win against the Germans just days beforehand.
The loss of an early goal hardly boded well for the Scots’ prospects – indeed, Scotland sides in recent years would have imploded at such a setback. But Strachan’s men refused to panic far less self-destruct, and battled their way back into the match with a commendable mixture of skill and aggression, even daring to take the lead with a second goal early in the second half.
That the Scotland players apparently ended up disappointed by the concession of a late goal that evening, which reduced the possibility of three points to one, reflected the great strides made by Strachan and his charges. The players clearly possess a belief in their ability to take their place among the protagonists in France in two years’ time, a fact that must be considered against the backdrop whereby a draw in Poland not so long ago would have been greeted within these shores akin to being recently crowned world champions!
The next match, of course, sees the Irish travel to Glasgow for a clash that may go some way to determining Scotland’s fate. For all Strachan has predicted that this group will go down to the wire in terms of settling who qualifies automatically, a loss to Martin O’Neill’s men would increase the gap between the two teams to six points, which for all Scotland’s renaissance could prove a formidable gap to catch even at this relatively early stage.
The flip side of that is that the game represents an opportunity for the Scots to draw level, and inject yet further momentum into their qualification bid. The game is given added spice by virtue of being played at Celtic Park, where O’Neill enjoyed so many successful years more than a decade ago. Add the (typically acerbic) autobiographical comments of O’Neill’s assistant Roy Keane concerning his time under Strachan while a player at Celtic to the mix, and we could be in for a very lively evening indeed next month.
For now, most Scots fans will be enjoying the fact that their national team is competitive again, and has a decent chance to progress to France. Qualification remains a long way off, but for now hope springs eternal, and for now that will suffice. Win, lose or draw, Gordon Strachan, as he himself recently put it, has the footballing public feeling good about themselves again.