Scotland were woeful at Euro 2024 – they need to follow England’s template

Supposedly time is a great healer, but the 21 days since they went out of Euro 2024 have done nothing to make Scotland feel any better about the lamentable campaign which shook them out of Germany as if they were giving the place a bad smell. There will be fresh grimaces and wincing in the aftermath of Sunday’s final — and not just if the neighbours win it — when the tournament is reviewed in its entirety and outsiders are reminded of Scotland’s pitiful contribution.

Their overall performance was so anonymous and punchless it bordered on mortifying. When football matters to a nation as much as it does to Scots there is a tangible sense of people wanting a team to be proud of, a