Steve Clarke admitted he will have to look at his own shortcomings as manager after a dismal display saw Scotland relegated to the second tier of the Nations League by Greece.
Holding a 1-0 advantage from the first leg, Scotland struggled to get going as the visitors scored twice through Giannis Konstantelias and Konstantinos Karetsas before half-time. Christos Tzolis put the match beyond the home side’s reach in the opening moments of the second period.
Clarke, whose team were booed off at half-time and full-time, says he will now spend the three months before June’s friendlies with Iceland and Liechtenstein identifying what exactly went wrong.
‘Greece were the better team on the night,’ the manager conceded. ‘We started okay, had one or two half chances.
‘They score with their first attack. We didn’t get back behind the ball quick enough and we didn’t create enough — that adds up to a disappointing night.
‘I’ll go away and look at myself to see what I could have done better. Maybe I didn’t make enough rotations. Maybe I could have made more changes to freshen the team up.
Steve Clarke can hardly watch as his team are taken apart by Greece in the Nations League
Ryan Christie was the only change to the Scotland side who won the first leg in Piraeus
Midfielder John McGinn described Scotland’s 3-0 defeat at Hampden as ’embarrassing’
‘We have to analyse it, park this tournament because we go down to League B, and try to do better.’
Clarke, whose team are set to face the Greeks in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers, said: ‘I talked before the game about setting down a marker. I think Greece have done that tonight.
‘We’ve learned that, when we do everything right, with the ball and without the ball, we’re a good team at this level.
‘We’ve got two friendlies in June to prepare for the World Cup qualifiers in the autumn.’
Having won the first leg in Piraeus last Thursday, Clarke made just one change to his side for the return leg, with Ryan Christie displacing Lewis Ferguson.
The manager conceded that his reluctance to shuffle his pack to a greater extent may have been a factor in a poor display.
Asked if he should have made more changes, he replied: ‘It is possible. With hindsight, everything is possible.
‘The boys assured me they were all fit and well. I think the first goal gave them (Greece) a lift. It was really their first dangerous foray forward and they scored with that. After that it became a long night for us. I could have done with a few more legs, to be honest.’
After going four games unbeaten, the dismal performance of Clarke’s players saw them booed off the park.
Although the manager is contracted until next year’s World Cup, the embarrassing nature of this defeat will inevitably place a question mark against his future again.
Asked what he made of the fans’ reaction, he added: ‘I didn’t really notice them, to be honest. I am focused on other things other than what the supporters are doing. I always have been.
‘We have had a decent run. This is a bump in the road. If there is one thing I have learned over my time in charge of the national team it is there are bumps in the road.
‘It is how you react to it and we have to react to this one and make sure that come June we know what we are trying to address and come September we know what we are trying to do which is qualify for the World Cup.’
Asked if he agreed with John McGinn’s post-match assessment that the display had been ‘embarrassing’, Clarke replied: ‘No. After my time in the game it is better not to use those kind of words. It is better to look at our performance and be objective about it.
‘We didn’t have enough energy in the team, Greece had more energy and were a bit sharper. So, the best team won on the night.
‘I wasn’t overly disappointed with the defenders. I thought the back four did reasonably okay. I was disappointed with the defending of the team. We didn’t defend as a team.
‘On Thursday night in Greece, we defended as a team from back to front. That is why we got punished (tonight).’
