Andy Robertson did not mince his words after Scotland suffered a 2-1 Nations League defeat to Slovenia at Hampden Park, describing his side as having been "outfought" by their opponents in a result that overshadowed the momentum built from a weekend win in North Macedonia.
Scotland had arrived in Glasgow full of confidence, having secured a victory in North Macedonia just days earlier, and appeared to be in control when Ryan Christie's close-range backheel put the hosts ahead at half-time. But the second half told a very different story, with Slovenia hitting back through Danijel Sturm and Aljosa Matko to turn the contest on its head and claim an unexpected win on Scottish soil.
Speaking after the match, captain Robertson did not attempt to dress up the performance. "Not good enough," he told BBC Sport Scotland. "The whole team. We didn't do the good things we did on Saturday, I don't know what that's down to. They caused us a lot of problems and we have to find the reasons why."
The defender admitted the squad had entered the match buoyed by belief after their win over North Macedonia, only to fall well short of matching that intensity. "We wanted to kick on from Saturday because we had a really positive feeling about what we're doing and where we're going. We didn't do that," he said. Robertson floated fatigue as a possible explanation after a demanding international camp, though he noted that Slovenia had played an equal number of fixtures. "It's been a long camp, I don't know if it was down to tiredness, but Slovenia have played the same amount of games as us. They looked a lot fresher, more hungry," he said, adding that while Scotland can sometimes be accused of lacking quality, being outfought was a different matter entirely.
Head coach Sebastien Pocognoli, who took charge of the national team in August, offered a similarly blunt assessment of his side's display. "We didn't deserve to get the win, that's the reality," he said. "On the ball we were not clever enough. We were far from strong enough in the duels." The Belgian added that he viewed the result as a learning opportunity, saying the team would reflect on the performance and aim to improve in future fixtures.
The defeat raises fresh questions about Pocognoli's methods just months into his tenure. Since replacing Steve Clarke, he has sought to introduce a more attacking approach and has given opportunities to several new faces, including debutant Josh McPake against Slovenia, following earlier first caps for Stephen Welsh, Robbie Ure, Luis Binks and Luke Graham. His start included a goalless draw away to Slovenia and a chastening 3-0 home loss to Switzerland, a game complicated by Jack Hendry's early red card, before the North Macedonia win offered genuine encouragement.
That optimism has now been tempered. Former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday, speaking on Sportsound, suggested the manager's early grace period with supporters and pundits may already be coming to an end, calling it one of the poorest Scotland performances he could recall against what should have been beatable opposition. Former national team captain Willie Miller also questioned whether Pocognoli's favoured back-three system was being exploited too easily, pointing to repeated gaps exposed by Slovenia's attackers and wondering aloud whether a change in structure might be needed going forward.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport Football.