Soccer: Vogts looks shaky after Austria debacle

By PHIL SHAW

When it was all over bar the doubting, and the gleeful songs of the handful of Austrian fans had subsided, the most damning indictment of Scotland's latest morale-sapping defeat came from the inner sanctum.

"We were very ordinary," admitted Craig Burley, the most capped player in Berti Vogts' side. "In fact, we weren't even that good."

Taken in isolation, Austria's 2-0 win in a Hampden Park friendly should not provoke press and punters alike to call for Vogts' head.

Even the report of Germany's spy Klaus Sammer (father of Mattias) would have to qualify its doubtless damning verdict by noting that Scotland were missing their captain, vice-captain and first-choice goalkeeper, and had three men starting their first international.

But viewed in the context of 13 matches since Vogts succeeded Craig Brown as manager - nine of which have been lost and only three won, with New Zealand to come in Edinburgh on May 27 - the debacle against a country below Scotland in the Fifa rankings forms part of a pattern of perplexing selections, confused tactics and ignominious failures.

Burley, the captain for Brown's last game, had made his first appearance under Vogts after a long struggle with injury.

In the circumstances, which include a possible call-up for the Euro 2004 qualifier against Germany in Glasgow on June 7, the Derby midfielder might have been excused for trotting out the platitudes.

Instead, he encapsulated the disquiet of the 12,189 diehards who witnessed Scotland's supine performance.

"Where we go from here is a question I'm sure we'll be getting asked," Burley said. "I want to be involved and get to the European championships. But you do wonder where we go next.

"It's a learning curve and the management probably have to answer some questions. You're entitled to ask where we are going to improve. At times, the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing.

"The first half was especially soul-destroying. We made it far too easy for Austria. I can't think of any positives."

Vogts shrugged off the suggestion that a sequence like Scotland's often brings the sack.

"If you look at this defeat, you can say there has been no progress," the German said. "But if you look at the players, there has. The big discussion when I came was about getting youth in. Now look at [James] McFadden and the others."

This argument is unlikely to persuade many dissenters.

McFadden, the 20-year-old Motherwell attacker, was at least combative. Other young players championed by Vogts, notably Lee Wilkie and Steven Thompson, looked seriously short of the required standard.

The same, sadly, may be true of Paul Gallacher, the Dundee United goalkeeper, who gave away a goal to Austria, just as he had to Hibernian days earlier.

Wilkie, Steven Pressley and Andrew Webster were seldom convincing as a defensive unit.

Vogts' falling out with David Weir, who decided he could no longer work with him, increasingly resembles a case of cutting off the nose to spite the face. At a time of limited options, the Everton centre-back's experience and leadership qualities would have been important.

The same should have been true of Christian Dailly and Gary Naysmith against Austria. However, Vogts' penchant for square pegs in round holes saw Dailly, a right-footed defender who occasionally plays in midfield, deployed at left wing-back, and Naysmith, who does operate wide on the left, in central midfield.

The results, like the overall match result, were all too predictable.

A repeat performance against Rudi Voller's team next month could undermine Scotland's chances of earning the Euro 2004 playoff place which still looks achievable, on paper if not on the pitch.

- INDEPENDENT