WHEN the stadium for your game is less than half-full and those fans who have bothered to turn up to back you are booing then you know you have some work cut out to win around your support.
There were a number of factors which contributed to the dreadful turnout for Scotland’s crucial Russia 2018 qualifier against Slovenia at Hampden on Sunday evening.
The scheduling of the fixture at 7.45pm on Mother’s Day was far from ideal for the many members of the Tartan Army who hail from further afield.
The cost of tickets, too, is a perennial source of annoyance to the modern football supporter and would have convinced a large number to stay at home or go to the pub and watch proceedings unfold on television instead.
However, the desperately disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign which Gordon Strachan’s side have had – they had lost their previous two games against Slovakia and England away - undoubtedly played a part in little more than 20,000 filing through the turnstiles.
It was the smallest crowd for a Scotland match at Hampden since a meaningless qualifier against Latvia back in 2001.
Strachan, though, is unconcerned by the attendance and believes he knows exactly what his team must do to rectify the situation; continue to perform like they did in the dramatic 1-0 triumph over Slovenia and keep on recording important victories.
Asked if he hoped the thrilling win would persuade disillusioned fans to come back, he said: “Hopefully. But it’s not like I am sitting around saying: ‘Och, I can’t believe they haven’t turned up’. It’s understandable. Of course I can understand it.
“If you aren’t playing well at anything then nobody really wants to go and see you. If you play well they do. It is understandable. I don’t feel it’s offensive to me or the players. That’s just life.”
Both Celtic and Rangers have seen their crowds dwindle in recent seasons due to the on-field fare being far from satisfactory and a widespread unhappiness at off-field matters respectively.
But the Parkhead and Ibrox clubs have been enjoying far healthier turnouts in recent seasons due to successfully addressing their problems. Strachan is hopeful the positive result at the weekend is the first step towards Scotland doing the same.
“If you don’t play well people don’t turn up at any stadium in the world,” he said. “There have been stadiums in Scotland in the last couple of years which haven’t been full. If you get the right stuff then you’re fine.
“It was a strange, strange feeling at the end of the game. When they started off playing I thought ‘that’s what we’re trying to achieve, that’s what we used the Canada game the other night for, to find out who could run, who was fit and who could play with each other’.
“Was it satisfying? I think the satisfying bit comes when you go in the dressing room and they are all leaping about, jumping and singing. It is a pity we don’t see each other for a long time now.”
Despite Scotland battering opponents who were second in Group F and nine places above them in the FIFA world rankings, their fans were still far from satisfied.
A section of the support jeered the introduction of Chris Martin for the excellent James Morrison towards the end of the match even though Strachan was replacing a midfielder with a striker as he pushed for a winner.
Martin, the Derby County forward who is on loan at Fulham in the Sky Bet Championship this season, had the last laugh by scoring an excellent winning goal with just two minutes remaining and his manager is unconcerned by the reaction the player received.
“I have my own thoughts about that, but I will keep them to myself,” he said. “As I said on the night, he has joined a great club of top players who have had a wee bit of stick from the fans. But he is a hero in our eyes, that’s for sure.”
Scotland look to have found a new star in Stuart Armstrong. Strachan described his display as “the best debut I have ever seen” in the immediate aftermath of the triumph. He expanded on his comments.
“I always knew his running power was good, but I didn’t know how strong he had become with his running power,” he said. “It is okay to run, but to be strong and run at the same time is difficult and that’s what he’s got.
“That changed when he moved position about September time really. It has changed his career. It has definitely helped Celtic and it has helped us. So players make a big difference. I thought Scott Brown was back to his best as well. We could be here all day talking about good players.”
Strachan switched Kieran Tierney to right back so that he could accommodate both the Celtic defender and Andy Robertson of Hull City in the same side and was rewarded with lively performances from both men.
The individual showings of two men whose combined age is just 42 gives him optimism for the future. He said: “When I told Kieran what I was going to do he said: ‘No problem’. Listen, he was just superb.
“A lot of players have moved from right back to left back over the years, but I didn’t think it should be any different going the other way. When you have got two players like that you have to try and play them both. You have to try and get your best players on the pitch.”
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