Well, there was certainly no lack of Celtic players on view at Hampden tonight – but, oh dear, that funny, familiar, forgotten feeling of depression after a Scotland game, and this time not even the sight of these eccentric boys with the kilts and the glengarries with the feathers in them to cheer us up!
Scotland against Czech Republic OFF https://t.co/ydAuKzQVH2
— Michael Stewart (@mstewart_23) September 4, 2020
The trouble with our Celtic boys was that they did not stand out. They did not play badly, but they weren’t good either. Credit to Ryan Christie for scoring a great penalty, but I couldn’t say that I was out of my chair shouting and bawling for a penalty in that fairly innocuous challenge. In fact, I wouldn’t have given it, nor the previous one either.
What a cracking penalty by #RyanChristie #Scotland 🏴 pic.twitter.com/03007YMWlV
— Michael McCahill 🍀 (@MickMcCahill) September 4, 2020
The only real bit of football was the Israel goal. That was first class stuff, but why did we never get any of that flair from Scotland? We certainly know that McGregor, Forrest and Christie are capable of that sort of stuff, but they were all affected by the general malaise and depression of the occasion. Once Zahavi scored that goal, Scotland were paralysed and you never felt that we were going to score again.The culture of defeatism had taken over.
FULL TIME | Scotland 1-1 Israel.
It ends one goal apiece at Hampden as Zahavi’s equaliser cancels out Ryan Christie’s first-half penalty.#SCOISR pic.twitter.com/QMatWDMVFi
— Scotland National Team (@ScotlandNT) September 4, 2020
It was nice to see ex-Celts like Armstrong and Tierney again, but the Man of the Match was undeniably Nir Bitton who strolled through the game and never looked in any trouble in a well organised team. There is no doubt that Scotland have the players to do better, and we have to wish Steve Clarke all the best in bringing out the best of them.
As for me, I still have problems getting involved in International football. It wasn’t always like this. I recall seeing, from the Schoolboys Enclosure, Alan Gilzean scoring the only goal of the game against England in 1964 in a Scotland team where the two Celtic players were Billy McNeill and Jim Kennedy. But that was a long time ago!
🔊LISTEN: Scotland boss Steve Clarke says he saw positives in their new system tonight:
“I thought the good outweighed the bad. I thought tonight was a good chance to have a look at playing with a back three and I thought we did okay”. pic.twitter.com/Rs8VgOd2No
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) September 4, 2020
Oh, and I have spent quite a lot of time today reading websites and newspaper articles explaining to me in words of one syllable what this is all about in terms of qualification for various tournaments, but I can’t say that I totally get it. Can you? It is not easy!
A vague sense of patriotism (and lack of anything else to do) will possibly compel me to watch at least some of Monday night’s game against the Czech Republic, and I hope Scotland win, but the passion and the excitement will not really come back until the real football returns at Dingwall next Saturday afternoon.
David Potter
Scenes outside Hampden ahead of #scotland v #israel pic.twitter.com/Mobnl8DTsY
— Ronnie Esplin (@RonnieEsplin) September 4, 2020
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