Andy Robertson admitted he will cherish the pre-match presentation before the Nations League clash with Slovenia, when three of his former managers and the current head coach marked the skipper reaching a century of caps. After that? Not so much.
Robertson savoured the moment with Gordon Strachan, Alex McLeish and Sebastien Pocognoli ahead of the game at Hampden. But he refused to sugar-coat what followed as Scotland slumped to a miserable defeat.
Special moment before kick-off
“It was a lovely moment for me before the game. It was a bit of a surprise as I didn’t know they were all coming,” Robertson said. “To see them all lining up and giving me the award for 100 caps was incredibly special and something that can never be taken away from me.
“So it was incredibly special for myself and my family. But as soon as that first whistle goes I couldn’t care if it was my 101st cap, my 20th or whatever – you want to go and win the game. I think quite quickly I got frustrated like everyone else. It wasn’t a game to remember but I will certainly remember this night because of what happened at the start.”
Fans' frustration understandable
The positivity from the win in North Macedonia evaporated into the chilly Glasgow sky. The 10-men defeat to Switzerland the previous week was described as sobering. This was like getting thrown out of bed and straight into an ice bath.
Scotland were fortunate to have a lead at one point, but in the second half they crumbled, leaving the new gaffer still searching for his first win on home soil. Hampden had empty spaces even before kick-off and the mood seemed flat all night.
Robertson admitted the team did not give the Tartan Army much to cheer about. “At the end of the day, fans react off players, and that's always the way in football,” he said. “Don't get me wrong, before a game, the crowd can be up at any stadium I'm talking about. But at the end of the day, if we are under pressure at the start, or we're not keeping the ball, or we're making mistakes, then of course the crowd are going to get frustrated.
“So it's on us to start well, start better, do the right things. Second half, we're 1-0 up and we trying to tweak a few little things. I think Jack had to make a last-ditch tackle thirty seconds into it. That's not the way to start the second half. The fans are then going to be even more frustrated and everything like that.
“So for me, it's completely understandable when we perform like that. When we do good things, then I would hope that they would then react and try and push us and try and help us. But at the end of the day, they had too many comfortable passes, they got through us too many times, and I could understand the frustration from everyone inside the stadium, because the 11 players on the pitch were frustrated, the manager was frustrated, the backroom staff were frustrated. So, I think the fans had every right.”
Leggy performance and no excuses
Pocognoli is attempting to implement a new structure on the team but there are more teething problems than a toddlers' day out. There was a system malfunction in the second half against Slovenia, with the visitors playing through and over the Scots with ease.
It was also alarming how knackered Pocognoli’s side looked, with the likes of Lewis Ferguson, John McGinn and Billy Gilmour running on fumes after four games in 11 days. Robertson did not deny it – or look for excuses.
“I think you're fair to say leggy. I think we did, I think it's fair to say that. It's been tough, it's been intense, especially for the lads that have played all four games. Mentally and physically it's been really tough,” he said. “But after the game, I said to all of them, and the whole squad is, as far as I'm concerned, the other team had the exact same schedule, and they looked a lot fresher, they looked a lot better, they looked a lot freer and things like that.
“For me, there's not really an excuse there, there's not really an argument, because we're playing against a team that had the exact same schedule as us. I just think they got momentum at the right time and they really kicked on. We couldn't quite get the momentum back to try and get back in the game.”
It was a hefty bump back to earth after the high of the Macedonian performance. Robertson said: “I think how positive everyone was after Saturday, how we'd played, how we went about our business, the chances we created, then I think we wanted to keep that positivity going.
“Then when you come back to play in front of your home crowd again after, I know there were circumstances, but let's be honest, it was a bit of a battering against Switzerland, getting a man sent off after eight minutes and they dominated the ball. The idea was to try and get a result for them and it didn't pan out. We took the lead, we probably didn’t deserve to take the lead. I don't think anyone can argue that.
“Then I actually thought we started okay in the second half, made a mistake for the goal, and then, yeah, I think everything just fell apart from there. I thought they dominated and deserved the win from there.”
