Scotland fell to a 2-1 defeat against Slovenia at Hampden on Tuesday night, and the Hotline callers have not held back in their criticism of Sebastien Pocognoli and his squad.
Fans fume over lack of effort
Gus Murphy from Bellshill said: "I only watched 15 mins of the second half. Against a team whose country is the size of Glasgow and Lanarkshire, it looked like the whole Scottish team had a massive bet to lose the game. Not eight, not nine but 11 non-triers. They should be sent home to either grow a pair or withdraw from the team to not insult the Scottish people, but especially the Tartan Army, who had to suffer this drivel. They should get the ticket money, what an insult to them."
Charles Maxwell added: "Another drubbing for Scotland, we were lucky to get away with a 2-1 defeat. 20 caps for (Oli) McBurnie and no goals. If that was his record at club level he'd have been dropped 10 games ago. I couldn't believe it when (Findlay) Curtis dived in the box. There was just no need. I'm not blaming the boy, it's just the way they teach them at Ibrox. I don't want to be too hard on the players as it's the manager I blame. The back three system clearly doesn't work for us. I'm now worried that the manager will stubbornly stick to his guns and Scotland will continue to suffer."
Manager under fire
Peter Cooperwhite stated: "Oh dear. Let me say this, Andy Robertson was awarded his medal for reaching 100 caps with four managers present. I would get rid of one of them (Pocognoli) and bring three in at the same time. After beating North Macedonia, we got carried away as if though we were getting somewhere, but us fans know that doesn't work does it with us. You can see how Mcburnie was frozen out (by Clarke) for a reason."
Craig Barnett said: "50 yard back passes, constant square passes. What a mess. Jock Stein once said the best way to defend is to attack. So many opportunities to put ball in box but it’s another square pass, it’s hopeless."
Robert Livingstone from Palm Beach reasoned: "Slovenia proved to be no mugs, played good football, sliced through a brittle defence with ease. They could have won by more. (Angus) Gunn should have stopped the first one. He's not the only one to blame as there was some terrible defending from everyone. As for McBurnie, you can see why Clarke didn't take him to the World Cup. He has never looked like scoring goals."
Comparison to Wilfried Nancy
Joe Graham from Garrowhill emailed: "Disaster at Hampden tonight for the Tartan Army Supporters. They filled the ground with anticipation of a victory against Slovenia to move them forward as favourites to progress. However as it happened, tonight it wasn’t Scotland against Slovenia, it was Sebastien Pocognoli the Scotland coach against Bostjan Cesar the Slovenian coach. Sebastian’s 3-5-1-1 against Bostjan’s 4-4-2. It was so obvious in the first half it wasn’t working for Pocognoli as they could have and should have been three goals down before scoring against the run of play. Pocognoli didn’t change anything other than players, and the best, sweet moving team capitalised to win handsomely. It appears with the players Scotland have at the moment, we are going nowhere, soon."
Stephen Mulhern from Dumbarton drew a direct comparison between Pocognoli's struggle and Wilfried Nancy's disastrous 12-game stint at Celtic last season. He commented: "Just like when Celtic hiring Wilfried Nancy was a huge gamble, the same scenario is rapidly unfolding with Pocognoli. I witnessed almost a mirror image of Celtic losing the League Cup final to St Mirren in last night’s defeat. Scotland don’t possess the players to play such a high line and I’d like Paul Lambert in place for the next game."
Celtic Sixes reaction
Celtic stars from yesteryear defeated arch rivals Rangers 5-4 in the final of the Tennents Sixes over the weekend, prompting a response from Donald Dundas, Uddingston, who said: "You really have to chuckle at the joy Celtic fans are exuding over the old fat guy's tournament win. The desperation for success is overwhelmingly delightful to see. Well done. Now if only the big bhoys can back it up then they're entitled to blow trumpets. Be good to see Slazenger sponsoring the jerseys next season."
Mike Moore hit back, stating: "To all the Rangers fans bleating about Celtic's celebrations after winning the Tennent's Sixes. They would have done the same. I heard the embroidery had already begun for another star on the shirts."
