Rangers fans aren’t always the biggest endorsers of the current Scotland regime and after Hungary put in a spirited display in the Group of Death, grumbles once again appeared online.
Gers fans represent more members of the Tartan Army than any other club side yet there remains friction between some Ibrox supporters and the Scottish national team.
Sticking purely with the football, there’s a sentiment amongst some fans that the national side is too defensive, too uninspiring and too outdated to take the nation’s game forward.
The manager’s reluctance to trust his young players and stick with limited stalwarts has also drawn criticism.
Following one point and one goal from Scotland’s three Euro 2020 group matches, there’s a mixed feeling regarding Scotland a la Steve Clarke.
Rangers fans haven’t always been the biggest supporter of the ex-Killie manager and much of this sentiment was echoed by the likes of Ibrox legend Graeme Souness.
The ex-Rangers gaffer described the football Scotland played at the tournament as being “from another age” [ITV4 23/06/21] as he slaughtered Steve Clarke.
Scotland’s tame and defensive performance – despite having a team with undoubted talent – comes under even more scrutiny when compared to the success of Hungary.
Hungary do not have a squad which on paper bests that of the Scotland national team.
That’s despite the nation being ranked seven places higher than Scotland (44th) in the FIFA World Rankings.
Yet the nation – which like Scotland has a proud footballing history – managed to impress in the competition’s most difficult group.
Holding holders Portugal off until the 84th minute on matchday one, the nation would earn a 1-1 draw with World Champions France but couldn’t hold on against Germany in the final game.
At 1-0 and then 2-1 Hungary were primed to defy the odds and go through but Leon Goretzka’s late strike broke Hungarian hearts even if they were full of pride for the nation’s performance.
It’s had plenty of Rangers fans defiant regarding the flippant reaction to Scotland’s underperformance at Euro 2020 as they highlighted what can be gained by having a go:
https://twitter.com/steviesouness/status/1407797886847492101
https://twitter.com/GS5555920130/status/1407832174640959489
Despite falling to a 2-1 defeat to Croatia in the nation’s final group game the 0-0 draw with England was a positive even if the 2-0 defeat to the Czech Republic largely cost the nation.
Here’s more on those Souness quotes as Rangers kid Nathan Patterson finally got a chance to impress at the tournament.
