Walking around Liverpool city centre, it can often feel like you are never any more than a stone’s throw away from some kind of tribute to The Beatles.
Whether it’s a statue, a shop selling merchandise and memorabilia, a busker in the street or a tribute band in the famous Cavern Club, Beatlemania is inescapable in these parts.
At the end of a turgid few days for Steve Clarke, one of The Beatles’ greatest hits felt like it rang true for the Scotland manager.
Can’t Buy Me Love. Certainly, so far as Clarke and the Tartan Army are concerned, he’s finding affection hard to come by at the moment.
Even with a World Cup to look forward to in the summer, strained relations are coming to the fore. It was evident against Japan at Hampden last weekend, and it was evident here in Liverpool once again on Tuesday night.
Ivory Coast’s Nicolas Pepe celebrates the only goal of the game against Scotland
A second successive 1-0 defeat offered precious little in the way of encouragement. As was the case against Japan, Scotland were booed off at full-time after this loss to the Ivory Coast.
The Ivorians were technically and physically superior against a Scotland team who offered very little in attack and were exposed on the counter all night.
There was a late flicker of life late in the second half, but there was nothing in this performance to suggest a major improvement on what was witnessed three days earlier in Glasgow.
Nothing to stir the soul, and nothing to offer any belief that Scotland can actually achieve something in the World Cup this summer.
The momentum they had after qualifying in such stunning fashion is draining out of this team. At this rate, Haiti will be licking their lips ahead of that opening game in Boston in June.
Any talk of a contract extension for Clarke should be put on the backburner. Right now, Scotland look like they will do little more than make up the numbers in America.
Clarke had stated pre-match that his team selection was likely to be unrecognisable from the side that lost 1-0 to Japan at Hampden last weekend.
He made nine changes in total, with only Andy Robertson and Scott McTominay retaining their places as the manager handed opportunities to some of the fringe players in the squad.
Clarke also tweaked the shape of the team. He switched to a back three which saw Wrexham’s Dominic Hyam line up alongside John Souttar and Kieran Tierney. Liam Kelly won his second cap as he started in goal.
Billy Gilmour struggled to get his passing game going as Scotland failed to find a breakthrough
George Hirst partnered Che Adams up front, with a midfield trio of Ryan Christie, Billy Gilmour and McTominay. Robertson and Ross McCrorie were deployed as the wing-backs.
The Scotland fans had travelled to Liverpool in decent numbers. In the heart of the city centre, the bars around Mathew Street were a sea of kilts and Saltires.
Immediately outside the Hill Dickinson Stadium, a huge fanzone had been created and it was bouncing to Scotland’s songbook a couple of hours prior to kick-off.
The fear amongst some supporters was that it would be the team who would hit the bum notes. The defeat to Japan undoubtedly zapped some of the feelgood factor around the national team.
A slight sense of trepidation also stemmed from the fact that Ivory Coast, five places above Scotland in the world rankings, had battered South Korea 4-0 last weekend.
Scotland actually started the match on the front foot. Christie took a pop from just outside the box, the ball stinging the palms of Ivorian keeper Alban Lafont.
Hirst was making a nuisance of himself. His energy and persistence up front unsettled the Africans and it led to the creation of another half-chance for McTominay.
But Clarke’s side fell behind on 12 minutes. A breakaway from Ivory Coast eventually saw Elye Wahi’s scuffed shot come back off the post.
Kelly stood motionless, only for the ball to fall perfectly for former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe to tap home from point-blank range. It was such a soft goal to concede and it undid a lot of Scotland’s early promise.
Clarke had pinpointed this friendly as a chance to get to grips with African opposition, with the World Cup clash against Morocco very much in mind.
The Ivorians were more incisive than Scotland. Their passing was slick and their movement off the ball caused Clarke’s side problems, most notably the way in which Benie Traore kept running off the back of Souttar.
Another warning came Scotland’s way on 26 minutes when Wahi let fly from distance, with the ball rippling the top of the net as it whistled past Kelly.
With the stadium roughly about 90-per-cent full of Scotland fans, this place soon became restless. In the search for an equaliser, McTominay saw a shot tipped round the post by Lafont on 30 minutes.
But Scotland’s raggedness was summed up when Gilmour, the team’s best passer, scuffed a low corner-kick and then compounded the error by gifting the ball back to the Ivorians only seconds later
On the eve of the match, John McGinn had spoken about how results in these friendlies are not necessarily the be all and end all.
The most important thing, claimed McGinn, should be the performance and players getting game time. The problem for Scotland is that, across these two matches, they haven’t had a result or a performance.
There has been precious little to offer any encouragement. Especially in the final third, Scotland lacked any sort of guile or artistry. A smattering of boos could be heard as the half-time whistle sounded.
There wasn’t a huge shift in terms of the performance or the atmosphere in the 15 minutes or so immediately after the interval.
Hirst continued to offer more than Adams up front, but that wasn’t a high bar. Scotland just couldn’t build any sustained pressure in the final third, squandering possession all to cheaply, and all too frequently.
For Steve Clarke, it was another friendly defeat in the build up to a major finals
The best chance came just after the hour when a Bazoumana Toure made a pig’s ear of a throw-in and threw the ball straight to Hirst.
The Scotland striker drove forward and skipped away from a tackle, but his left-foot shot sailed high and wide of the target. In the context of the game, it was a huge chance for Clarke’s side.
At the other end, Guela Doue flashed a header just over the bar from a corner-kick. It felt like only a matter of time until they doubled their lead.
Clarke brought Kenny McLean off the bench at the same time as Ivory Coast brought on Manchester United winger Amad Diallo. At no point was the gulf in quality more evident than in that moment.
What was the point of bringing McLean off the bench in a friendly? Clarke knows what he can do. He’s a solid, honest player.
Why not take a look at a Lennon Miller or Andy Irving in midfield? It was a pointless substitution that summed up the pointlessness of Scotland’s performances over these two games.
Scotland were better over the final 15 minutes and threw some bodies forward in a desperate search for an equaliser, but it was too little, too late.
Simon Adingra clipped the outside of the post as the Ivorians chased a second goal. Then the boos came at full-time. Ah, yes, the boos. A recurring theme for Scotland at the moment, whether Clarke likes it or not.
