Bertie's excuses now tiresome

Published on Thursday 19 August 2004 14:51

SO where now Berti? With the start of Scotland’s World Cup qualifying campaign barely three weeks away the German coach seems no closer to providing the answer to that question than when he took over from Craig Brown two-and-a-half years ago.

Barely 24 hours after declaring he had "26 or 28 quality players" at his disposal, able to provide cover in any position, the shortcomings of the squad Vogts has assembled were cruelly exposed by a Hungarian side which, in truth, was nothing above the ordinary.

The fact that Lothar Matthaus’ team should win with such comfort - this was the Scots’ worst home defeat in 31 years - was as much down to the ineptitude of Vogts’ side than any brilliance on the part of the Hungarians. And that is the worrying part.

Having now played 28 matches at the rate of almost one a month using an incredible 62 players, some 37 of whom have made their international debut under his command, Vogts continues to produce the same dismal, embarrassing excuses in defeat.

"We are a new team, we need time for the players to gel, one or two players were playing in unfamiliar positions."

We’ve heard them all before and, to be honest, it’s becoming increasingly tiresome to listen to Vogts.

Last night’s exercise laid bare Vogts’ claim to have 26 or 28 players able to offer cover in every position and his plea that this was the first time his midfield had played together as Barry Ferguson returned from injury was lamentable.

Vogts rightly pointed out that throughout the first half Scotland, employing the "diamond" formation in midfield which had brought success against Estonia and Trinidad and Tobago at the end of last season, looked the better side.

But having said that it’s hard to remember an occasion on which Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly was over-troubled other than a deflection off team-mate Peter Stark which he turned over in style.

At the other end David Marshall was even less involved during the first 45 minutes of his international debut but it was Scotland who fell behind as the opening period moved into injury time.

Having failed to award Scotland a penalty after Szabolcs Hustzi sent Darren Fletcher, who had probably his quietest match yet for his country, sprawling, French referee Laurent Duhamel had no hesitation in pointing to the spot when substitute Peter Kovacs went down after being challenged by Andy Webster.

Television pictures, however, vindicated the Hearts defender - Kovacs had dived. Huszti cashed in, sending Marshall the wrong way from the spot.

It was a disappointment for the Scots but Vogts himself must shoulder responsibility for what happened thereafter, the German deciding to abandon his starting formation by throwing on an extra striker, Steven Thompson replacing Gary Caldwell who had formed the base of that diamond.

It was a baffling decision for the Scots to start chasing the game with 45 minutes remaining and they were made to pay the price as Hungary soaked up whatever pressure the home side could exert before hitting on the break.

Hustzi did so to devastating effect as he picked up the ball on the halfway line and was allowed to run unchallenged before unleashing a tremendous shot that clipped the inside of Marshall’s right-hand post before nestling in the net.

Marshall prevented further embarrassment as he spectacularly turned over Zoltan Gera’s acrobatic overhead kick but it was red faces all round as Hungary made it three with 18 minutes remaining.

Marshall, at full stretch, was unable to cut out Peter Simek’s low cross only for Steven Pressley’s attempted clearance to crash off the keeper’s back as he lay on the turf and trickle over the line.

Stevie Crawford had a late opportunity to reduce the leeway when Andras Toth’s poor clearance landed at his feet. But from 14 yards out he couldn’t even hit the target, firing a shot high over the bar.

And, like his players, Vogts was just as unconvincing as he tried to put a brave face on events afterwards, as ever full of bombast and contradictions.

The first-half, he declared, had been full of passion and organisation but we had played badly in the second, so stating the blindingly obvious.

Vogts bemoaned the lack of organisation in the second period, pointing out that at international level players had to get much closer to their opponents, a lesson which they had to learn.

However, if it is a lesson which hasn’t been learned over the past 30 months or so, is it one Vogts can teach his players in the course of 21 days? Scotland only have one more friendly before facing Slovenia and the fact it is in Valencia against Spain two weeks tomorrow can hardly fill even the most patriotic of fans with anything other than dread.

Vogts claimed the nature and the severity of last night’s defeat wouldn’t affect his players’ confidence ahead of the World Cup campaign - but what effect would another bruising result just days before it begins have?

He said: "I was very, very disappointed about the second-half. It was a very good lesson for the boys and we have to learn this lesson.

"When you play international football you have to play but you also have to stay not too far away from your opponent as we did in the second-half.

"We have to fight and run more like we did in the first-half."

When his claim of the previous day that Scotland now had 26 or 28 players available rather than the ten or 11 when he first took charge didn’t look justifiable, Vogts agreed before trotting out his well-worn excuse of needing time.

Vogts may have been right to point out that some players were playing together for the first time but surely the idea of having a squad is the same at international level as it is for a club.

Coaches don’t simply coach the first 11, they coach all the players so that if they are needed they can slot in as seamlessly as possible into the formation and style of play of the team.

To simply claim, as he did when faced with the statistic that this was Scotland’s worst home defeat since going down 5-0 to England in 1973, that "We need time to build a team," doesn’t wash any more. And while he was insistent he’d stay as coach - "We have lost a friendly, nothing more," was the retort - Vogts, the man who needs so much time, must be aware the clock is ticking.

A poor start to the World Cup campaign and he may well find his hour has come.