Forget the ‘what ifs’, Clarke’s revitalised Scots are heading into 2025 with grounds for optimism

Scotland’s first exposure to the Nations League elite ended with mixed emotions. When the euphoria of a dramatic win in Poland wore off, angst-ridden questions took over. Almost all of them began with the words, ‘what if’?

What if Grant Hanley had resisted the urge to lunge into a rash penalty-box challenge on Nicola Zalewski deep into added time at Hampden in September?

What if Che Adams had stayed narrowly onside when Steve Clarke’s side forced the ball into the net in the final seconds of an unfortunate 2-1 defeat to Croatia?

What if Ben Doak had been fit for Euro 2024 and the imperious Billy Gilmour had started against Germany?

And where was this version of the Scotland team – brimming with attacking energy, ambition and endeavour – when the Tartan Army were crying out for another week’s stay at the Euro finals in the summer?

The questions serve no purpose now. Ifs and buts won’t bring back a place in the knockout stage of Euro 2024. They won’t secure second place in League A Group 1 above a Croatia team boasting talents like Luka Modric and Ivan Perisic. They won’t land a coveted place amongst the pot-one seeds for next month’s World Cup qualifying draw.

If they serve any purpose at all, it’s to crystallise how far this Scotland team have come in a short space of time. Unfortunate to lose all three opening games in their Nations League section, they rallied to claim an impressive seven points from nine.

By the final half hour of the last game, journalists in Poland’s National Stadium had no idea if we’d be writing about a heroic surge into second place in the group or a plunge over the edge of a cliff into League B.

Andy Robertson’s last-ditch header avoided the latter, at least for now. Had Clarke’s team claimed the point they deserved after taking the lead in Croatia in October, they’d have pipped the 2018 World Cup finalists to finishing runners-up behind Portugal.

‘Over the six games, in every game I think we got slightly better,’ reflected skipper Robertson afterwards

‘We know mistakes get punished. We know we have to be good in every single detail of the games. And I think, slowly but surely, we got better.

‘In the Poland game at home (a 3-2 defeat), I think we should have won it. I think that one hurt the most.

‘Against Portugal away, we got beaten late on. Then Croatia away, we thought we’d equalised. So it’s such fine margins at this level.’

If nothing else, Robertson’s bullet header earned a League A lifeline. A two-legged relegation play-off against Greece, Austria, Turkey or Ukraine awaits in March.

While Poland crash out of the elite group for the first time since the tournament’s introduction in 2018, Clarke’s team will hang on for another crack if they come through the play-off. The second leg, helpfully, is at Hampden.

‘We’ve now given ourselves a chance to stay in this league,’ added Robertson.

‘Portugal and Croatia are ahead of us, of course. But I think we deserved to finish ahead of Poland.

‘Lets see who we play now (in the play-off), and hopefully we can stay in with the big boys, because it definitely gives us a lot of belief going into the qualifying campaigns as well.’

Dropping into Pot Three for the World Cup draw is a blow to hopes of reaching the finals in the US, Canada and Mexico, but nothing more. Scotland would be one of the Pot-Three teams that bigger nations would prefer to avoid.

 ‘Qualifying for World Cups is so hard, acknowledged Robertson. ‘I think the last World Cup qualifiers kind of showed that. We were pretty perfect throughout the whole thing and we finished second and only one goes through. So it’s so hard.

‘But we’ve played against most of the big nations now and I think we’re getting better and better. The games are getting closer.

‘We know we have to keep that level – and that’s the thing. So, when it comes to the World Cup campaign, I don’t think we’ll fear anyone.’

Monday night’s goal was Robertson’s first for Scotland since Steve Clarke’s debut game in charge, in 2019. When the left-back met a cross from the excellent John Souttar, it felt like Belgrade and Oslo all over again.

However, there’s a clear contradiction about this Scotland team. Put them in a pressurised situation in a qualifying game and they excel. Put them in a training camp for four weeks during the Euros and they seem unable to cope.

While Clarke continues to confound the critics who think his time is up, he must know that the novelty of just reaching major tournaments has worn off now. The next challenge is to go toe-to-toe with the world’s best in a tournament situation and live up to expectation.

‘The Euros was disappointing,’ Robertson admitted. ‘The Switzerland game was good but the other two were disappointing, especially the Germany game. And that’s maybe a frustration

‘But it’s something we have to move on from. if we get to another tournament, we have to learn from it.’

There are grounds for optimism on that score. Doak and Tommy Conway have added youth and legs to the squad. A fit and firing Lewis Ferguson offers an upgrade on Kenny McLean in midfield. The return of Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson and Kieran Tierney, meanwhile, is a prospect worth clinging to.

While 41-year-old Craig Gordon can’t play on forever, he’s a better keeper than Angus Gunn. One of only five Scotland players to have scored 20 goals or more, meanwhile, the importance of John McGinn’s return to form can’t be overstated.

Anger, recrimination and ‘what ifs’ are natural, but they are also old hat. After the bitter anti-climax of Germany, Scotland’s national team will head into 2025 with grounds for cautious optimism. It’s not a bad way to end the year.