After watching a Steve Clarke Scotland side no fewer than 71 times prior to this one, we should have known No 72 wasn’t going to be plain sailing. That’s simply not his style.
The fans have become accustomed to nights like this. The performance was far from pretty and they watched a fair chunk of it with their breaths held.
But who honestly cared in the end? This was another huge – albeit shaky – step towards the promised land. A spot in next summer’s World Cup is tantalisingly close.
No-one has taken charge of Scotland more often than Clarke, who overtook Craig Brown against Belarus. By his own admission, he’s unlikely to reach a century, but he has a wonderful opportunity to go out on the biggest high on the biggest stage of them all.
As has been the case so often throughout his six-and-a-bit years at the helm, his players were a million miles from being top notch. Yet they got the job done.
The first hour against Greece last Thursday was brutal viewing, before Ryan Christie gave everyone a much-needed pick-me-up with the equaliser which paved the way for an incredible comeback victory.
Steve Clarke has been in charge for 72 games, more than any other Scotland manager
Che Adams admitted that Clarke was ‘not a happy chap’ in the dressing room at half-time
Clarke embraces his Belarus counterpart, Carlos Alos, after Scotland’s 2-1 win at Hampden
There was no chance we could be as bad again, could we? Well, in the opening 10 minutes we certainly were. Only Scotland could make Belarus look like world-beaters.
The chorus of groans from the stands following a strike by Evgeni Yablonski which went wide were all too familiar.
Che Adams looked to be on a one-man mission to change the mood and, after spurning two half-chances having found space in behind the visitors’ defence, he finally got his reward.
The turn and finish from a Jack Hendry pass was outstanding. He celebrated goal No 11 for his country as if it were his first. That’s how important it was.
Adams’ overall display was terrific. He endured a tough shift as the lone man up front against Greece, but this was much better.
Dropping short time and again, he picked up possession and brought his team-mates into play. Ben Gannon-Doak was the beneficiary more often than not.
The teenager was electric. Poor Pavel Zabelin was taken to the cleaners on more than one occasion.
At one stage midway through the first half, Valeri Gromyko offered some welcome assistance. A quick jink from Gannon-Doak left him sitting on the deck in front of his manager with a glaikit look on his face that said: ‘What the hell happened?’.
There’s so much to like about Gannon-Doak. His positivity is infectious, but the final ball is often lacking. A long way from the finished article, he still gets fans on their feet.
We could have enjoyed him more if Scotland had remained calm after taking the lead. For all the good times and monumental wins savoured under Clarke, his sides largely struggle to dominate proceedings – regardless of the opposition.
Adams admitted that the manager made his feelings known at half-time.
‘He wasn’t a happy chap,’ said the Torino player. ‘He was right in what he said.
‘I’ve never seen him like that. It was a bit of frustration, wanting the team to perform better for the fans.
‘In these two massive games, he felt we were off it in the first half, and he’s got every right to give us a kick up the backside.’
There was a notable improvement from Scotland in the early stages of the second period, but admittedly that wouldn’t have been hard.
On this evidence, Scott McTominay is still searching for his Scudetto-winning form of last season with Napoli. He wasn’t bad by any means. Just not his normal self.
You wouldn’t have known that, mind you, based on the way he expertly fired low into the corner to net what turned out to be the winner late on. That’s more like it, Scott.
Relief rather than euphoria was the response around Hampden.
The fans were probably more relieved after Belarus thought they’d equalised in the 63rd minute. The day was saved by the saint in the VAR room who called the referee over to the monitor to inspect a potential foul in the build-up. Goal chopped off, thank goodness.
It would have been interesting to see how things would have panned out had that one stood. Or indeed if Hleb Kuchko’s stoppage-time goal had come five minutes sooner. We needn’t bother dwelling on that.
At the end of a week consisting of two largely forgettable performances, six points will do rather nicely.
Scotland’s first appearance at a World Cup since France 98 is within our sights.
