Alan Pattullo: Was Craig Levein ahead of his time to play with no strikers?

Return to Czech Republic ten years on is a time for reflection

Craig Levein's strikerless team in Prague in 2010. Picture: Alan Harvey/SNS

Scotland’s trip to face Czech Republic on Monday almost demands reflection. Craig Levein is as aware of this as anyone, hence his admirable decision to open up about that game ten years ago next month to Moira Gordon in today’s Scotsman.

Now that the controversy is over, now that you’re older, it’s easy to care less about the gesture of playing 4-6-0. Reporting on the game at the time, I remember seething about Scotland – who were playing in a yellow change strip – “leaving a big yellow stain across the beautiful game” in Prague as they fell limply to a 1-0 defeat.

There was a forward on the pitch – Jamie Mackie. It’s just he was playing at what he later recalled was effectively right back.

Of course, now it hardly seems notable at all to play with no strikers. Neil Lennon did it twice in a row recently.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director