3 days ago
Clarke's men drained the enthusiasm of every Scotland fan with a catalogue of calamities vs Iceland writes Bill Leckie
SON'S OF APATHY Clarke's men drained the enthusiasm of every Scotland fan with a catalogue of calamities vs Iceland writes Bill Leckie
RIGHT behind Steve Clarke's dugout, punters craned their necks for a look at a star of the hit TV show Sons Of Anarchy.
The rest of Hampden?
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It was a nightmare debut for Cieran Slicker
Credit: PA
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Steve Clarke reacts during the disappointing friendly at Hampden
Credit: Kenny Ramsay
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SunSport's Bill Leckie has given his take on the clash
Credit: John Kirkby - The Sun Glasgow
It was swamped in tons of apathy.
Little wonder. Because this was a night to drain the enthusiasm out of the most optimistic Tartan Army footsoldier on earth.
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What was billed as the chance to roar Steve Clarke's men towards a make-or-break autumn schedule turned into 90 minutes of moans and groans and boos – and of cringe-making agony at the performance of rookie keeper Cieran Slicker.
Behind his blackout sunglasses, Easterhouse-born actor Tommy Flanagan, scarfaced Chibs Telford to the eight million who watched the motorcycle gang drama for eight seasons, sat shaking his head with the rest of us.
And, like most the 32,000-plus who'd forked out hard cash for this sorry Friday night, he'd exited stage left long before the end.
How young Slicker must have wished he could have done the same.
The kid with 21 on his back, three times the number of senior games he's played at the age of 22, had a horrible, horrible night from the moment his first clearance went straight to an Icelandic shirt and led to the opening goal minutes after he'd come on for the crocked Angus Gunn.
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But this defeat wasn't his doing; far from it, given that in front of him were ten outfield players who will be pretty close to our first picks for that World Cup qualifying cavalry charge of six ties in 74 days.
We had Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour, fresh from winning Serie A with Napoli.
We had Andy Robertson, off the back of his second English title with Liverpool.
Tartan Army fan who walked to Germany embarking on new challenge for the World Cup
We had John McGinn, skipper of the Aston Villa side who stormed to the last eight of the Champions League.
We had Lewis Ferguson, who led Bologna to their first Italian silverware in half a century.
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We had Kieran Tierney, ready for a hero's return to Celtic.
Along with Austrian league champion Max Johnston and English League One winner Grant Hanley, they were all applauded to the rafters pre-match when the big screens hailed their individual achievements.
Sadly, as a collective they weren't so much champs as chumps.
Clarke had said it himself – this was no time for experimentation. It was a night for his tried and tested stalwarts to step up one last time for the season in front of the Tartan Army and give them a shot in the arm of optimism that would last right through the summer, a right good dose of footballing Vitamin D.
Instead, this was like touching down in Majorca to find it's peeing down and the hotel's only half-built.
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It started badly when Angus Gunn landed awkwardly taking his first catch of the night with only a couple of minutes on the clock. Still, at least he can say that everything he was asked to do while he was on the pitch, he did flawlessly.
The rest? Wow. Where do we start.
How they rated
Angus Gunn - Came for a cross in the first minute but crumpled with an ankle problem so was unable to continue. Terrible timing given he is without a club having left Norwich. 1
Max Johnston - Given his chance on the right hand side and made a positive impact. Will be disappointed he didn't make more of a back post chance to score. A decent start. 6
John Souttar - Showed great strength inside the box to hold off his marker and head home Max Johnston's wicked corner. Will be furious at the goals Scotland lost. 5
Grant Hanley - Tried to show Andri Gudjohnsen inside after Cieran Slicker's poor kick but ended up with egg on his face as he whipped it into the top corner from 25 yards. Grim night. 4
Kieran Tierney - 50th cap and a poor occasion to hit that milestone. Matched Albert Gudmindsson's runs all night before going off for debut man Lennon Miller in the closing stages. 5
Andy Robertson - Bombed up and down the left flank as he usually does but final balls were lacking the precision to really hurt Iceland. Skipper has to drag Scotland's defence out of this rot. 5
John McGinn - Patrolled the middle of the park as he usually does but nothing really came off for him high up the pitch. Scotland will need him refreshed and flying in September. 5
Billy Gilmour - Did precisely what you expect from him now. Kept possession and the ball ticking over as the link man all over the pitch. Below his best like so many. 5
Lewis Ferguson - Didn't know much about it at the own goal which put Iceland back in front. Unlucky as a comedy pinball moment saw the ball crack off him and squirm past Cieran Slicker. 5
Scott McTominay - Started on the left of midfield, tasked with supporting George Hirst. Few flashes of what he can do but a big game player so he keeps the real heroics for when it counts. 5
George Hirst - Missed an early header then denied his first Scotland goal by two great saves from the Iceland goalie then an offside call after scoring. Showed he's got some promise. 6
Subs:
Cieran Slicker (Gunn 6) - Debut didn't go to plan, that's for sure. Poor kick for the opener, flailing at the second, even worse at the third. Difficult not to feel sorry for him at times. 2
Lennon Miller (Tierney 67) - First cap. 3
Scott McKenna (Hanley 67) - Shored it up a bit late on. 3
Che Adams (Hirst 67) - No chances. 3
Nathan Patterson (Johnston 79) - Replaced Johnston. 2
Tommy Conway (McTominay 79) - On for McTominay. 2
There was George Hirst's header over an empty net from three yards out. There was the catalogue of calamities that saw John Souttar and Ferguson combine to deflect the second Icelandic past the floundering Slicker.
There was a countless number of slack passes. There was a tempo that rarely got above jogging pace. There was a total lack of the togetherness that had pulled us back from that terrible start to the Nations League and very nearly kept us in the elite group – replaced, worryingly, by so much more of the disjointed, disorganised nonsense we'd shown in THAT Hampden hammering by the Greeks on the night we were eventually relegated.
It was woeful. It was hugely worrying with those fast-improving Greeks to face along with Denmark if we want to make it to the top table across the Pond next summer.
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And, as much as I'm a huge fan of the guy, it's another bad night on Clarke's CV as his record extends to just four wins from his last 21. Again, I've backed him through thick and thin, but it has to be said that previous gaffers have been hunted out the door with better records than that.
He has a massive rebuilding job to do on this squad's confidence before Copenhagen on September 5 – and, yes, I know we're in Liechtenstein on Monday night, but what that will tell us about ourselves goodness along knows.
Except maybe which players have the character not to pull out by the time you read this.
As for young Slicker?
He doesn't need anyone to tell him he had a nightmare. He's already a joke pub quiz question about the only guy to win two caps on the same night: His first and his last.
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It wasn't his fault, though. He's played nine minutes of first team football this season for Ipswich Town, he's played six first team games in total for them and Rochdale and he's never played one single minute of top flight league action.
How do you end up playing international football with that little experience?
Answers on the back of a postcard from Vaduz.
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