I watched Scotland lose to Slovenia and noted a long goodbye, Pocognoli's change of heart and a big question

Coming off the back of their first win under their new boss against North Macedonia at the weekend, it had all started so well for Scotland when Ryan Christie (31) opened the scoring in Mount Florida. However, second-half strikes from Aljosa Matko (56) and Danijel Sturm (71) saw them fall to a second successive home defeat under the Belgian.

With international football now set to take a break until next month, Pocognoli will have plenty to mull over as he assesses his side’s performances in the opening weeks of his tenure. But what did their defeat to Slovenia tell us about the national team ahead of their final Nations League fixtures against North Macedonia and Switzerland in November?

Graham Falk was at Hampden Park to cover proceedings on Tuesday. These are his three key takeaways from Scotland’s loss vs Slovenia.

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Clarke’s long goodbye

Ahead of the game, captain Andy Robertson was presented with a framed shirt to celebrate reaching 100 caps for Scotland in Saturday’s 2-0 win over North Macedonia - an incredible achievement. The Tottenham Hotspur left-back first broke into the national team as an up-and-coming teenager for Dundee United and, after starting against Slovenia, is now just one cap away from equalling Kenny Daglish as the country’s most capped player of all time.

As part of the presentation, the manager who handed Robertson his debut at the age of 19, Gordon Strachan, was in attendance alongside his fellow former Scotland bosses Alex McLeish and Steve Clarke, with the latter back at Hampden for the first time since resigning from his role amid the meek exit from the World Cup in June.

The first manager to lead Scotland to three major tournaments, Clarke left on polarising terms in the summer. One section of fans was frustrated by the poor performances at both the European Championships in 2021 and 2024, and the World Cup in North America; others thankful for the memories given to them on the way to getting there.

Time is a healer, though, as they say, and his return to the Hampden turf saw a ‘Steve Clarke’s Tartan Army’ chant bellowed out from the stands. A subtle wave and acknowledgement were offered in return as he surveyed the Hampden pitch where he had managed 29 of his 81 Scotland games. The narrative since the summer World Cup has concentrated on welcoming a new era of Scottish football, and rightly so, but it was nice for Clarke to have a proper send-off of sorts considering his achievements.

The big question

Poor old Oli McBurnie. The Hull City striker reached 1000 minutes without scoring for Scotland during the game, and the one time it opened up for him, he could only nod it into the path of Ryan Christie, who finished from close range with a neat backheel to open the scoring. An assist is better than nothing, but with each passing moment, there are doubts around his ability to be the goalscorer Scotland desperately need.

Under Pocognoli, Scotland are more offensive, and he had chances to break his duck over this international camp too, namely when he was foiled while trying to round goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the reverse of this fixture last week. He’s behind teammates Kieron Bowie, Ben Gannon-Doak, John McGinn and even centre-back Jack Hendry in shots on target per 90, and just couldn’t seem to get into the game against Slovenia. Taken off at the 65-minute mark, he put in perhaps his least convincing performance of the four matches played since returning to the international fold.

”How many caps do you give him?” asked one fan behind me at the break. He’ll surely have more time to prove his worth on the international stage, but the very fact the question was asked means McBurnie has done little to quell those who argued he wasn’t the answer to Scotland’s search for a number nine.

Pocognoli’s change of heart?

Did the Belgian make the first big mistake of his Scotland managerial career? His choice of playing three at the back left huge gaps. First and foremost, Ben Gannon-Doak did well going forward, but was all at sea defensively. The 20-year-old has loads of potential, but he’s not renowned for his defensive work, and Scotland were carved open continuously down that side. Those behind him didn’t fare much better. The system was incoherent at best. It just didn’t work. When the second goal came for Slovenia, it was no real surprise. The boos that followed weren’t much of a shock either.

Pocognoli was forced to shift to a back four to stem the tide of attacks that were raining down on the home side, and that must be a concern for him considering his marriage to a back three formation thus far. Scotland improved when they altered things with 25 minutes to go. Josh McPake came on for the last 20 minutes and really impressed down the left-hand side and linked well with Robertson. It's something that will undoubtedly give the manager some real food for thought ahead of next month’s final two Nations League games, but a winning formula must be found sharpish if he is to maintain the positivity around his appointment.