Craig Brown Scotland can take heart from World Cup

Scots steal a march on England without kicking a ball

Former Scotland manager Craig Brown insists that the current tournament in Brazil has given encouragement to all the less-fashionable nations in the world. Including Scotland!

What’s more, he believes that the Dark Blues, who missed out on the tournament, are now in a better position for the forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifying campaign than the Three Lions, who did.

England arrived home with just one point, two goals and many more questions than answers.

Brown is supportive of the man who steered the Auld Enemy’s ill-fated campaign, Roy Hodgson, but reckons he now has a bigger task facing him than the latest man to follow in his footsteps, Gordon Strachan.

“The World Cup would have been a big disappointment for Roy, but perhaps it was predictable to some degree, given the age of the squad that he inherited,” says Brown. “At some point, the last team had to be dismantled and replaced with a younger group.

“Maybe this competition came just a little too soon for the more inexperienced players who travelled. So many of the last group got to the veteran stage as players all at the same time, and Roy did not really have the opportunity to prepare for Brazil, tinkering with his line-up.

“Really, a root-and-branch transformation was needed by England. But in terms of individuals, there was promise in the displays of some of them, which will improve with time and experience. It will all be about the future now for England.

“It’s the same for our lads but they are much more settled, ahead of what will be a schedule of great matches for the team and the supporters.”

Even now that we’ve reached the semi-final stage in Brazil, no-one can say with any certainty where the coveted trophy will end up after a tournament which has done much to revitalise the game.

The swashbuckling performances of sides like Algeria, Mexico, and the USA have been just as entertaining as the more predictable skill levels of Brazil, Germany and Argentina.

Brown is the last Scotland boss to take the country to the World Cup Finals 16 years ago in France and he has worked at five major Finals, as a coach, assistant manager and team boss.

He sees no reason for Gordon Strachan to be concerned about the up-coming Euro 2016 qualifiers against the likes of Germany, Georgia, Poland and the Republic of Ireland.

“Gordon is a great student of the game, and the boys will be prepared perfectly for the matches ahead, having already shown signs of being a confident, organised unit under him,” says Brown.

“I don’t think there is any doubt that countries similar to our own will be taking great encouragement from what’s happening in South America.

“The World Cup has outstripped everyone’s expectations, both in terms of the organisation and the matches. It’s been very refreshing.

“And much of that has been down to the way the so-called lesser nations have performed. That has given each tie a freshness.

“In the group stages especially, there was a positive look to the way the sides played, which perhaps has been missing at recent major Finals.

“These teams have set themselves up in a very sophisticated way to deal with the threat supplied by the big stars like Messi, Neymar and Robben.

“I believe there are no fears for Scotland on that score.”