Sebastien Pocognoli may already be under pressure, even at this early juncture in his time as Scotland boss, after his troops suffered a home loss to Slovenia.
They were 1-0 up at half-time in this Nations League clash but surrendered that advantage to end pointless. It represents a second straight home loss for the Belgian, after a comprehensive defeat to Switzerland seven days prior.
It had started well for the Scots when Ryan Christie bundled in from a few yards out, just after the half-hour mark, to put the hosts 1-0 up.
The Bournemouth man cleverly flicked home amid a packed penalty area as Slovenia failed to defend a high, hanging cross from Ben Gannon-Doak. Slovenia then mounted a rare first half attack and looked destined to equalise when Swansea man Žan Vipotnik was through on goal. But Andy Robertson, fresh from bringing up a century of Scotland caps, put in a brilliant, last-ditch block to divert the shot over the bar.
Christie saw a shot repelled just after the restart as Scotland started fairly bright, but that soon faded and the visitors were level just before the 60-minute mark.
Aljosa Matko latched on to a precise through ball from Danijel Sturm and finished coolly beyond the reach of Angus Gunn. Matko thought he had a second when he beat Gunn to a knock-on, rounded the goalkeeper and tucked into the net but the Scots were spared blushes when the offside flag was correctly raised.
That reprieve didn’t last long, though. Slovenia went 2-1 up and this time it was roles reversed as Matko found Sturm amid acres of space and he found the bottom-left corner to silence Hampden.
The hosts rallied but never truly looked like restoring parity. Next month they conclude their Nations League group with a home game against North Macedonia and a trip to Switzerland.
The beleaguered Pocognoli reflected post-match: “We didn’t deserve to get the win, that’s the reality. We didn’t deliver a great game. On the ball and off the ball we were below the level we expect.
“We were not proactive enough, on and off the ball. Probably the structure off the ball needs to be more proactive, front-footed to push the line higher. On the ball we were not clever enough. We were far from strong enough in the duels.
“It’s a process about being brave, trying to defend forward and we were not compact in our defensive shape. The reality is each game teaches us some information. We will try to go through the process we want and learn from this one and do better in the next one.”
