Someone within Hampden Park had the temerity to blast Freed From Desire over the public address system at full time. A song reserved normally for euphoric moments only just drowned out the jeers which met a Scotland victory. People just want more and more? Too right they do.
With this win, Steve Clarke and his players edged closer to the World Cup finals tournament. It was just that a return to that scene for the first time since 1998 felt a million miles away as the Scots limped and laboured past Belarus. “We know we have got to be better, man,” Scott McTominay said. The Napoli midfielder was even more profound as he scored Scotland’s second; second word “me” and the first a rhyme with “duck”. McTominay’s lack of celebrations depicted perfectly Scotland’s messy night.
Clarke is fiercely protective of his squad as standard. To the Scotland manager’s credit, he refused to sugarcoat what played out here. A clearly furious Clarke was withering in his criticism. “I am really, really disappointed,” he said. “As disappointed as I have been during 72 games in charge. We just didn’t turn up. The performance was way below par. It is head-scratching.” Perhaps, yet it must be remembered Scotland were outplayed even in defeating Greece on Thursday.
