Nine weeks on from a thoroughly miserable night in Stuttgart, the nation is still coming to terms with the way Scotland exited the Euros.
With qualification for Germany sealed so early, there was justifiable faith that Steve Clarke’s side could go where none in Dark Blue had gone before.
It wasn’t just the fact that the glass ceiling to the knockout stage remained intact. What riled the enormous travelling support more than anything was the manner in which Scotland were eliminated.
An opening night humiliation against hosts Germany preceded a decent point against the Swiss to set up a must-win game against Hungary.
Scotland attacked their final group opponent with all the fervour of a mouse. Clarke pointed his finger at Argentinian referee Facundo Tello when the only person to blame for a witless, conservative display was himself.
As he prepares to name his squad for the forthcoming Nations League games with Poland and Portugal, he will surely appreciate that he first has to address the herd of elephants in the room.
Steve Clarke will speak for the first time since the Euros when naming his Scotland squad
The instant impact made by Che Adams at Torino enhances his claims as first-choice striker
McTominay and Gilmour could soon be running Napoli’s midfield if Antonio Conte gets his way
He owes no one an apology for what happened. But it’s incumbent on him to provide a better explanation than we heard in Germany. Acknowledging that he got a lot wrong out there and has resolved to learn from his mistakes would be a decent starting point.
He does not have his troubles to seek. Callum McGregor has retired, Kieran Tierney and Lewis Ferguson are still injured, and Aaron Hickey hasn’t kicked a ball for Brentford since last October.
Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Jack don’t have clubs. QPR don’t appear to want Lyndon Dykes.
Could it be, though, that the seeds of a renaissance for the national team are to be found in the very country which gave birth to the great social changes of the same name seen across Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries?
Once a place where Scottish footballers were as rare as the artefacts in Italy’s great museums, Serie A may soon be awash with players who’ll have designs on featuring for Clarke in the 2026 World Cup.
With Bologna having already provided a happy home to Hickey prior to his move to Brentford, Ferguson helped guide the very same club into the Champions League.
Lewis Ferguson was named in Serie A’s team of the year after a stunning season at Bologna
Josh Doig featured for Sassuolo and Liam Henderson strutted his stuff for Empoli, the fifth club of the former Celtic and Hibs man’s adventure in Italy. Che Adams’ move from Southampton to Torino this summer has got off to a flier with the striker claiming a goal and an assist against Atalanta at the weekend on just his second league appearance.
Doig, whose side were relegated last year, has now been tipped to join him in Turin.
But while the thought of seeing Adams’ game improve through pitting his wits against Italy’s best defenders might even force the normally taciturn Clarke into a smile, the most intriguing scenario comes in the story that’s unfolding in the south of the country.
Newly installed as Napoli manager, Antonio Conte wants Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay (pictured left) as he seeks to win back the title the club won for the first time in a generation in 2023.
The £25.4million deal to take McTominay from Old Trafford — the only club he’s ever known — is already believed to have been struck.
While there’s still work to do before securing Gilmour in a move worth an initial £12m, Il Partenopei are confident it will come to fruition.
Hickey was a roaring success during his time at Bologna before landing a move to Brentford
Confirmation of Matt O’Riley’s £26m move from Celtic has removed one of the stumbling blocks.
This development would only be a good thing for the Scotland manager. Being able to call upon players who are featuring in the English Premier League is one thing. But Gilmour and McTominay bringing a greater understanding of each other’s games to Scotland camps would be a bonus absolutely no one had bargained on.
The fact is that Scottish footballers tend to do well in Italy. While Denis Law’s experience with Torino was mixed, Joe Jordan and Graeme Souness thrived at AC Milan and Sampdoria, respectively.
Remarkably, it took 30 years for another Scot to follow Souness out there. Henderson’s move to Bari saw him initially play in Serie B, but he soon featured in the top flight with Verona and played for Lecce and Palermo before joining Empoli.
On Saturday, he played all of his side’s 2-1 win against Roma in the capital. It’s not too late for the 28-year-old to earn a first senior call-up.
Henderson is playing for a FIFTH Italian club and helped upset Dybala and Roma last weekend
Ferguson’s success came sooner. He joined Bologna in 2022 after four years at Aberdeen, scoring seven times in his first campaign as they finished ninth.
He reached new heights last term. After being made captain, he became the highest scoring Scot in Serie A history as Bologna secured Champions League football.
Despite sustaining the knee injury in April which ruled him out of the Euros, he was named in the top-flight’s team of the season and even claimed the Premio Bulgarelli No8 Award, a title granted to the best midfielder over the calendar year — and one which counts Xavi, Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba and Andres Iniesta among its former recipients.
Juventus and Milan have taken note of the Hamilton-born star’s progress.
The unfortunate injury aside, Ferguson would recommend the experience to anyone.
‘I settled in pretty quickly out here,’ said the 25-year-old. ‘I found myself living in a beautiful city, good people, good weather, good food and a great club and, last year, I played the best football I’ve played in my career.
Graeme Souness left his mark on Italian football, and Napoli icon Diego Maradona, in the 1980s
‘When you are happy, you play well.’
While the previous successes of those Scots who’ve embraced La Dolce Vita would guarantee nothing for Gilmour and McTominay, you’d be confident a change of environment would be beneficial to their careers.
Aged 23 and 27 respectively, they aren’t kids anymore. Gilmour left Rangers as a teenager, cut his teeth at Chelsea, suffered for his craft at Norwich and has flourished on the south coast.
McTominay has known how hard it’s been for players at United in the post-Ferguson era. But he’s seen a few big names off and has winner’s medals in the FA Cup and the League Cup as evidence of his worth.
Joe Jordan was Scottish football’s most successful Serie A export until the latest wave excelled
United won’t win the title this year but Napoli might.
The fact he’s started each of United’s three matches on the bench this season might well have banished any lingering doubts about the move to Italy.
He came on late at Brighton on Saturday to replace Harry Maguire but it was to be a forgettable few minutes with Joao Pedro’s stoppage-time header ensuring the three points remained at the Amex Stadium.
Gilmour was back on the bench by that point. Yet his technical brilliance for 90 minutes spoke to his ability to focus on the job at hand in what might well prove to be his last game for the club.
‘I’m not surprised how he played,’ said manager Fabian Hurzeler. ‘I see him in training. I see his attitude and the skill on and off the pitch.
Gilmour and McTominay were in direct opposition last weekend but may now link up in Naples
‘He was really focused and it is not so easy when someone talks about you or saying that he is leaving the club to give this performance.
‘I am very happy he was this stable in his mind and that is something special.’
Together with McTominay, Gilmour’s is a talent that now seems destined to be witnessed by the fanatics at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
Some 80 years after Mount Vesuvius last erupted, how pleasing it is that two mainstays of the Scotland team are viewed as such hot properties.
