New-look Scotland encounter age-old problem but encouraging signs for Sebastien Pocognoli to build on
Striker curse continues for Scotland as chances missed to get new era off to winning start
No one expected miracles. Sebastien Pocognoli has not got a magic wand, after all. Scotland have played worse and won and might have settled for a draw at half-time, with Slovenia by far the better team in the opening half.
Pocognoli can be excused the opening 45 minutes at the start of a new era. He sang Flower of Scotland before kick-off and then managed to get a tune out of his team in the second half at least.
Scotland emerged with a point from a far from straightforward fixture. Frustration will linger that it wasn’t all three.
Ninety-four days after a comprehensive defeat by Brazil in Miami, Scotland had to start somewhere. They had to get back on the bike and were doing so without Steve Clarke. For the first time since a 2-0 win over San Marino in March 2019 someone other than Clarke was calling the shots.
There was some inevitable initial uncertainty. Pocognoli awarded two new caps to Robbie Ure and Stephen Welsh and selected as many as six players who started that traumatic last World Cup match.
Evolution not revolution. But the Tartan Army saw enough to encourage them for the future. Ure hit the post in the dying moments of the opening half and Oli McBurnie and substitute Kieron Bowie should both have scored in the second half.
Changing manager does not instantly solve a problem hampering Scotland for decades. Sometimes, very rarely, it all goes right in front of goal, Denmark last November being one of those times. Here it was a familiar tale. Scotland just could not force the ball home. Perhaps McBurnie really is cursed never to score for Scotland from open play. Make that 17 matches without a goal.
Ideally Pocognoli would have liked McBurnie, who started in the number 9 shirt, to have broken his international duck having made such a high-profile return. The Hull City forward had chances but couldn’t take any of them. One opportunity in particular just five minutes after half-time will haunt him. “I am not going to sleep tonight,” he admitted afterwards.
After waltzing through the Slovenian defence he made one significant miscalculation by then deciding to go round Jan Oblak, one of the best goalkeepers in the world. The Atletico Madrid keeper was wise to him. McBurnie will know he ought to have shot sooner.
The striker should be well acquainted with Oblak’s brilliance from his season in La Liga with Las Palmas. He was given another reminder after 73 minutes when the keeper stopped his header from almost point-blank range after a Lewis Ferguson corner.
McBurnie was lively for the most part and he will take solace from the fact he was in the right positions and will be given more games in a Scotland shirt.
Bowie made a nuisance of himself in a far shorter stint on the pitch. He was sent on for Ure after 65 minutes and was picked out by an outstanding pass through the middle from Billy Gilmour, the Scots’ man of the match, with 13 minutes left.
Bowie took a good touch and seemed to have done everything right before sclaffing beyond Oblak’s far post. Another chance for the on-loan Sassuolo forward, after he latched on to Welsh's pass, was blocked by the keeper. Different strikers, same old story. Ure came closest of all just before the interval. After picking up a ball from John McGinn he drove inside and side-stepped a defender before shooting left-footed from the edge of the box towards goal. Oblak was beaten but the ball struck the post and went behind. So near and yet so far.
So it was not perfect, far from it. There is something to build on but much still to do. In dark-coloured leisure wear and a baseball cap, Pocognoli cut a very different figure to Clarke on the sidelines. Goalkeeper coach Chris Woods and assistant coach Alan Irvine, who once signed Pocognoli for West Bromwich Albion, meant the ties to the previous era remained strong.
Something else seemed familiar: the anguished cry of what are we to do with Ben Gannon-Doak? The livewire winger started on the bench but made sufficient impact when he came on down the right to push for a starting place on Tuesday night against Switzerland.
Some wonder whether he can be accommodated in Pocognoli’s favoured formation of 3-4-1-2. Much of the pre-match debate revolved around what shape the Belgian would feel suited Scotland best. Perhaps it was no surprise he chose the system he did. It created some distance from Clarke, who seemed to have settled on a base of four defenders.
Slovenia enjoyed some initial success when getting beyond the Scotland wing-backs, Aaron Hickey and Andy Robertson.
Andraz Sporar and Danijel Sturm gave Scotland some anxious moments in the opening half. They ran the visitors ragged for a spell. Sporar finished well from a cutback after just eight minutes but the goal was ruled out for offside. Sporar also saw a flick go wide after he was first to a cross from the left from Sturm.
Aljosa Matko, meanwhile, shot when he should have crossed and Vanja Drkusic hit the bar with a header. Scotland were rocking. Mitigating factors included an awful pitch that was cutting up badly and the fact Slovenia are no slouches on their own pitch.
But they are also far from world beaters. It was 56 (Slovenia) v 42 (Scotland) in terms of FIFA rankings – and the match lived down to expectations for the most part.
Pocognoli might have shuffled the pack a bit but he is dealing with many of the same problems as his predecessor(s). Chief among them is taking chances though at least Scotland created a sufficient number of them here to win a football match. Or at least it should have been sufficient.
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