It might not have seemed like it on the streets of Glasgow that evening, but Saturday was a pretty sobering day for Scotland. Despite being armed with the usual outward caution to cushion any blow, it would be safe to argue the majority of Scotland supporters were foreseeing a comfortable, possibly even heavy win over a modest Georgia side. The relatively uneasy taste the game left in the mouth, coupled with the score which was to filter through from Warsaw later, has chastened some of the uncharacteristic confidence which preceded it.
That isn’t to say it was a negative result or performance – we’ve all witnessed more than enough draws and defeats to start complaining about victories – and there was plenty to be encouraged by. It’s fair to say Strachan has forged a Scotland team which is more than comfortable in possession, which is more than could be said for most others in the last decade. When Burley and Levein’s sides passed, they propagated palpable tension, whereas this lot create anticipation. That counts for something.
The biggest traders in anticipation were the pair careering up and down the left side, Robertson and Anya. Such is the unusual age we live in, two youthful wing-backs who many wouldn’t have heard of not so very long ago are the two figures most worthy of stumping up the extortionate value of home admission. The two live wires didn’t tread on each other’s toes, and their interchanging and overlapping created the most promising openings, particularly in the first half. Offer the Tartan Army these two down the left for the foreseeable future, and the vast majority would tear your hand off.
The only other player worthy of special consideration was Scott Brown, tearing around the park with the relentless menace of a ned on a miniature scooter at his school’s playing field. He’s one of those players who is best appreciated in the flesh, in order to fully appreciate the ground he covers, the sheer amount of harrying and the understated, yet somehow urgent, passing work he does. Scotland haven’t another central midfielder with the same energy, and his presence or otherwise in the remaining fixtures could make a big difference.
Elsewhere, things didn’t seem to click quite so conveniently into place. Despite the hope offered by Steven’s late appearance against Germany, the Naismith-Fletcher wasn’t so potent. Though the patient build-up and intricate play was pleasing to watch to an extent, by the time the central two up front were trying to carve out a perfect opening for the fifth or sixth time, you almost wanted one of them to go with a hammer rather than a chisel and start blootering it goalwards. Dare I say it, not unlike the manner of a fully-confident Stevie May.
The atmosphere too, was a slightly unusual one. The aforementioned cost likely put plenty off, and it was understandably muted as a result. Mind you, put Scotland 1-0 up with ten minutes to play in any setting and there will likely be tension. Overall, by the conclusion, the feeling was slightly conflicted – though Georgia were distinctly unimpressive, they still carried enough threat to look like snatching a point at the death, and were not pushed aside comfortably enough to suggest the away fixture will be anything other than a struggle. Perhaps that’s just the reality of watching Scotland on a regular basis; the last utterly convincing competitive win, to my mind at least, was against Ukraine in 2007.
The fact remains that matches against Georgia, for Scotland, Ireland and Poland, will only serve to define the campaign if they involve a slip-up. As such, the only result of major significance on Saturday came hours after Ibrox had emptied. Not that it necessarily or logically should, but it certainly places a bit of pressure on the visitors for the opening bout of the three-way tussle for second and third in Warsaw. If Scotland can build on the positives from Saturday mind, the outlook could be a lot cheerier by Wednesday morning.
In addition to his work for The Terrace, John Callan is also the editor of Seagulls and Ricochets a blog that covers football across Europe.
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