Chief football writer Alan Pattullo joins Mark Atkinson from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to discuss Scotland's performance against Germany and where they go next.
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00:00Hello and welcome to this episode of the Scotsman football show. My name is Mark Atkinson, sports
00:09editor, and I'm joined by Alan Pattullo, our chief football writer, who has made it back
00:14down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen from Munich. Alan, how's the mood after last night in Garmisch?
00:24A lot of weary, well before I got back here I had to get up quite early this morning in
00:33Munich and I walked around Munich around about 7am. A lot of weary, bedraggled Tartan Army
00:42members still sort of drifting around town, I think slightly dazed and just taking aback
00:50at what had occurred in the Munich football arena the night before. It's fair to say it
00:55hadn't gone the way that many of us had hoped and obviously what Steve Clarke had planned
01:00for it to go. It just seems unstitched from the very start, I thought. It's funny to think
01:07after 26 years of waiting for his first major finals game in foreign soil, eight months since
01:16we've actually confirmed qualification for Euro 2024, and to think that within the space of 20
01:22minutes it began to unstitch like a cheap suit. It was hard to bear. I'm not casting aspersions
01:35on the quality or otherwise of the outfits that Scotland wore prior to the game. I saw them coming
01:42on in their natty new suits at the start of the game to inspect the pitch. Very different to the
01:48way that Craig Brown had Scotland kitted out before the opening game of France 98. If you
01:53remember they came out wearing coats. A very different situation this time and I have to say
02:01compared to that game against Brazil in 1998, Scotland really did let themselves down last night.
02:08They did, they did. While Germany played well and took their chances and were pretty ruthless,
02:15Scotland ultimately, there were very few, if any, pass marks on the pitch in the technical area.
02:23In your opinion Alan, having watched it from the stadium, what went wrong for Scotland?
02:29Was it stage fright? I think a lot of it does come down to stage fright, I really do. You look
02:34at the back five, obviously you've got Kieran Tierney there, you've got Andrew Robertson,
02:40big game players, both of them obviously. But Ryan Porteous, a championship defender
02:47for Watford. Jack Hendry playing currently in Saudi Arabia. Anthony Rolston, who we know when
02:54he first admitted that he's only there because of default, because of injury. He's not played
03:02much at all this season. There he was, chucked into one of the most unforgiving environments,
03:09an opening match of a major final. The hosts against the hosts in their own backyard. Not
03:16just any hosts, Germany, one of the powerhouses of world football. As we know from the opening
03:24minutes, you had this ominous warning. As Germany almost scored, fortunately there was an offside
03:30flag. Scotland just did not have the chance or the ability to get going, to play a few passes
03:37and play their way into the game. It was surprising in a way to see them stand off.
03:44Germany, I thought, the first ten minutes, they looked certainly like rabbits caught in the
03:51headlights and looked insipid. A pale reflection of themselves, of their true selves.
04:03Absolutely. Although, is it fair to say, Alan, that this performance is probably the culmination
04:10of the last nine, ten months where Scotland, after qualifying so comprehensively and emphatically,
04:18there has been a regression in performances and results. One win in nine going into this match,
04:24some poor defeats, Northern Ireland springs to mind at Hampden.
04:30What has changed apart from the injuries in the past ten months for Scotland?
04:38Injury, you're right to mention injury, it has to be a huge factor. We can't sit here and
04:42avoid talking about that. Steve Parks would have been denied. I was thinking five players anyway
04:48that had a good chance of featuring last night. Players of the standard of Aaron Hickey, who I
04:54think would have made a bit of a difference. Nathan Paterson, obviously, possibly. Lewis
05:01Ferguson, I'm sure could have played a part last night. There's somebody, we talk about big game
05:06occasions. I'm sure he wouldn't have been fazed by last night. Confidence must be an issue.
05:15Confidence if you haven't won a game for so long, apart from against Gibraltar
05:20in Faro a couple of weeks ago. It has to be an issue. Just as players and teams,
05:27you know, they get into a run of results where you hardly even have to think about winning.
05:36When you get into a run of results when you're not winning, suddenly it becomes very hard just
05:40to get back into that winning habit. Obviously, Scotland have to find a way to do that very,
05:46very quickly because we're reaching a point on Wednesday where it's a case of Scotland already
05:52fighting for their lives.
05:54They are. They've come up against a Switzerland team that have started the tournament with
05:59a 3-1 win over Hungary in Cologne, a game that I watched this afternoon.
06:08How did they look? I was sitting here at a press conference with Callum MacGregor, who was
06:15providing some insight on how the players are feeling. It's interesting, it'll be in Scotland
06:21on Sunday tomorrow, online later, but just a bit of insight into the atmosphere in that bus as they
06:26drove home last night from the Munich football arena. They came back to their base camp last
06:33night, an hour and a quarter, an hour and a half journey. We were hearing his thoughts on that and
06:39his thoughts on the way ahead after last night. Are you going to cheer me up by saying both
06:47Switzerland and Hungary look poor and Scotland will easily get through?
06:53I don't think Callum, nor the rest of the Scotland players, nor North Scotland fans and those at
06:59World's Talented Team well, will be that heartened by what happened in Cologne. Although to begin
07:04with, actually, Switzerland played very well and Hungary look like a team that actually
07:10looked like Scotland. They were making silly mistakes, they were passive, they looked defensive.
07:16Brooklyn went 2-0 up, scored two very nice goals and you thought at that point, there's no way
07:22back for Hungary. But then Hungary, after about the hour mark, just snapped into gear. This is a team
07:27that has only lost twice now in the past 20 months. They're a good team. This doesn't happen
07:32very often and they started to play and they had Switzerland on the ropes. They got a goal back,
07:37they really pressed for an equaliser and Switzerland scored in stoppage time on the break.
07:40And that last half hour, I think it dawned on a lot of people that this group is tough.
07:46Switzerland are a very good tournament team. They've been here before. The core of that team
07:51still exists. The Golden Generation, this is their last chance really. And Hungary, probably a little
07:58bit more defensively challenged than the Swiss, but they've still got good players as well.
08:03If we look ahead to Wednesday night, Switzerland will know themselves. They're in a great position
08:10now. They can beat Scotland in secure qualification. A draw is probably enough for them,
08:14but a win would do it with a lot to spare. And that's going to make life very uncomfortable
08:19for Scotland because they're up against a Swiss team, they've got goals in them,
08:22they've got creative players, their midfield look very good. Granit Xhaka, a guy that we've watched
08:27play for Arsenal for many years and part of the all-conquering Bayer Leverkusen team,
08:32when he ran the show. It didn't leave me with much optimism about Wednesday night,
08:37but at the same time, different game, different environment. And I think what you alluded to,
08:41Alan, that kind of stage fright and the scenario put in front of those Scotland players.
08:49Going up to Cologne is going to be very different. It's not the opening match.
08:53You're not playing the host nation. You're playing a good team, but you're not playing Germany.
08:58That's surely going to help these players. What happened on Friday should make them tougher,
09:06surely, for Wednesday.
09:09Yeah, you'd think so. You'd think so. And obviously, I'm sure Steve Clarke was
09:12minded about doing that, whatever happened, but I'm sure you'll be making several changes,
09:18I would guess. I guess the one where a lot of people have been talking about is Billy Gilmore,
09:24I'm sure he possibly will come back into the starting XI, but maybe even someone like
09:31James Forrest might come in just to add a bit of a different on the flank.
09:37And whether Che Adams or Laurence Shanklin gets to shout for the Strikers jersey,
09:41who knows? I would suggest he would still go with Che Adams. Obviously, he was brought off
09:48last night quite early. Well, very early. And I think as much of the minds went tonight, I think.
09:59But yeah, a lot for Steve Clarke to consider. I'm sitting here in Garmisch-Kirchen this weekend.
10:08There's an ultra marathon going on there, a trail running. Germany's largest trail
10:16running event is in this town this weekend. So, they'll be sort of stumbling in, I think,
10:23at 1am, the finish is at 1am tomorrow morning. So, after three days, three days of running
10:30over hills and glaciers and mountains. So, I hope the players aren't feeling too sorry for
10:35themselves. They just need to look out the window and see these poor, poor runners
10:40traipsing in the early hours of tomorrow morning. That's proper endurance
10:48athletes. So, Scotland, they've got a couple of 90 minutes ahead of them,
10:52important 90 minutes. But yeah, there's levels of sporting endurance, isn't there?
11:01There is. And of course, we always say tournaments are a marathon, not a sprint. But of course,
11:05Scotland's tournament potential could be in serious jeopardy if they don't get a positive
11:10result. Just finally, Alan, you talk about the changes and I think you alluded to Billy
11:17Gilmore and the striking options. One of the big criticisms of Steve Clarke was not playing Gilmore.
11:28But is there an argument that Clarke actually was right not to play Gilmore in a game where
11:32there's so little possession for Scotland, given that's the best part of his game?
11:37And if Gilmore does come in, who would you leave out?
11:43Interesting question. Interesting question. I think they were right, actually. I'm sure Steve
11:46Clarke, if we asked him right now, I'm sure that would be perhaps one of his reasons for his
11:53decision. I mean, there's no point playing Billy Gilmore if you don't have the ball with you,
11:56is there? That's one of his great talents is his ball retention. And I think whatever
12:01combinations Scotland played last night, ball retention would have been a task beyond them.
12:07I don't know. I thought Scott McTominay didn't look particularly fit last night, actually. He's
12:13had his struggles recently and ankle injury at Manchester United towards the end of the season.
12:18I just thought, I did wonder last night whether he might not start last night. He did start,
12:24so possibly he could be a potential to be left out. John McGinn, possibly,
12:28didn't have a great night last night. I suppose all this, we talked about this great midfield
12:33Scotland have and it's true on the day they are very good. But I think each one of them
12:38perhaps fear a slightly failed play or something because no one did themselves much justice
12:43against Germany.
12:46Alan, you're in Garmisch for the next couple of days before heading up to Cologne.
12:50Scotland doing press activity and training every day?
12:54Yes. Training tomorrow, first 15 minutes open to press and reporters. Then on Monday,
13:05training, closed training session. We'll get down to the real nitty-gritty, I think.
13:10But yes, obviously an important three days. Steve Cork has got to find something on that
13:15magic formula and be quick.
13:18He does, he does. Alan, thank you very much for joining us from Garmisch Park in Kirkcaldy this
13:23evening. Alan's copy will be online later. Well, hundreds of thousands of people have read the
13:29Scotsman content in the past 24 hours, so thank you all for logging on to the website and reading
13:35there and of course in print in the Scotsman Scotland Sunday. We'll have plenty more analysis,
13:40reaction, opinion and previews ahead of Scotland's next Euro 2024 match against Switzerland on
13:46Wednesday. But from myself and Alan over in Germany, it's bye for now.