Scotland’s Tartan Army are marching into the unknown as the national team begins life without Steve Clarke. For seven years, Clarke was the country’s longest-serving and most successful manager, and although his style of football left many supporters fatigued, he led Scotland from the international wilderness to three major tournaments.
Filling those shoes is Sebastien Pocognoli. The 39-year-old Belgian takes charge for the first time away to Slovenia in the Nations League, and has already earned early goodwill by freshening up the squad. That cordiality will only carry him so far, however, if the promised style and substance does not follow.
Pocognoli arrives with a markedly thinner managerial record than many of his international peers. He has overseen just 107 games across spells in charge of Union Saint-Gilloise and Monaco, following a playing career at left-back that brought him 13 caps for Belgium. Several national teams have changed managers since the World Cup, but Pocognoli has not been attracting the same attention as Jurgen Klopp, Xavi Hernandez or Zinedine Zidane. Compared with Clarke, he is inexperienced.
The squad he has assembled is similarly fresh. Twelve of the players were not in the United States, and eight are chasing a first cap. Pocognoli has cast his net far and wide: Sevilla striker Robbie Ure, Brondby captain Luis Binks and late addition Kristi Montgomery may never have had a look in under Clarke, while Oli McBurnie returns with a point to prove. James Wilson and Findlay Curtis, both capped by Clarke — Curtis made two World Cup cameos — have been released to the under-21s for their hosting of Azerbaijan on Wednesday. That focus on youth is driven by SFA chief football officer Craig Mulholland.
It is a far cry from Scotland’s last visit to Slovenia, when an agonising 2-2 draw in 2017 ended their hopes of reaching the 2018 World Cup and then-manager Gordon Strachan famously pointed to genetics for the failure. Slovenia, who brought back former centre-back Bostjan Cesar in January, are in a sticky spot with just one win in 10.
Captain Andy Robertson has been impressed by the new arrivals’ “energy and enthusiasm”, and says it has reignited something inside him too. As long as Pocognoli keeps the buy-in of his skipper — the pair met for dinner and had multiple chats before the training camp in La Manga — the rest should follow. In Spain, players had to be peeled off the pitch after pushing themselves to their fullest in an attempt to earn a start.
There is a feeling that while this is a new-look squad, it will not be so much a new-look team. The change is more in how they are asked to play, with the sweeping assumption being that Pocognoli will set up in a 3-4-3 — aggressive from the off and suffocating in the final third, in one of the system’s many variations.
Scotland should win in Slovenia, but the occasion is about more than the result as the side gets to grips with its new manager. It could be argued there was no better time to roll the dice: it is a relatively stress-free opening, with Switzerland at home and North Macedonia away to come before Slovenia visit Hampden on 6 October, all in the knowledge that there are a couple of back-door routes to the Euros in two years’ time. As co-hosts of Euro 2028, it is harder for Scotland not to qualify than to claim one of the 24 places, which should buy patience for both the new boss and an SFA that has taken a bit of a gamble. With that in mind, Pocognoli will be granted a grace period by supporters — eleven days being more than most are awarded.