MX23RW : Friday, April 26 05:12:20| >> :600:2477150:2477150:
[monks data]
Kazakhstan national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Mar 21, 2019 at 3pm UK
 
Scotland national football team

3-0

Pertsukh (6'), Vorogovskiy (10'), Zainutdinov (51')
FT(HT: 2-0)

Reaction to Scotland's 'worst ever defeat'

Reaction to Scotland's 'worst ever defeat'
© Reuters
Alex McLeish's men were beaten 3-0 in Astana on Thursday.

Scotland's defeat to Kazakhstan has already been dubbed the nation's worst ever loss and newspapers north of the border have not been slow to stick the boot in.

Manager Alex McLeish is coming under increasing pressure amid a furious response from the Tartan Army.

Here is how the Scottish Press reacted following Thursday's shock 3-0 defeat:

Daily Record

"ECKSIT" screams the headline above Gary Ralston's back-page story, which starts: "Alex McLeish was hanging on by his fingertips last night after Scotland's Euro fiasco in Kazakhstan."

Inside the match report leads off by saying: "They started with two Olis in attack and paid a brutal price for Stan Laurel defending."

McLeish's squad are now heading on to San Marino for Sunday's qualifier and chief football writer Keith Jackson writes: "It's probably just as well they're not coming back for a while. They'll pitch up next in San Marino on Sunday but if they think scraping a win against a side ranked even lower than the team of international no-marks who turned them over yesterday will make amends, then they have another thing coming."

Scottish Sun

"DOWN THE KAZI" is splashed across a picture of a bewildered-looking McLeish superimposed on a toilet, with the words below declaring: "Alex McLeish last night dismissed questions over his Scotland future. Eck saw his Euro hopes go down the Kazi in one of our most humiliating defeats ever."

Taking a similar approach to the Record, the headline over the match report says: "Only 1 game in but is it already time to deliver Ecksit... Looks like we'll be leaving Europe."

Scotland had remained on UK time in a bid to beat the effects of travelling across six time zones to reach Nursultan and Bill Leckie says in his 'Big Match Verdict': "All of it less than worthless once 11 guys went out there and played like they had terminal jet lag. If we're talking setting the clocks, let's take a moment to think of what brought us to this horrible, humiliating dot in history in the first place.

"As in, the backwards, insular thinking of an SFA hierarchy who can't see beyond their next lunch, never mind the next qualifying campaign.

"The decision to bring back Alex McLeish was a negative move, an admission of failure, a panic measure in the wake of the cocked-up attempt to lure Michael O'Neill."

Scottish Daily Mail

The misery-fest continues as the Mail declares Scotland's result "THE WORST EVER" before adding: "A clueless manager. A gutless team. A performance of such ignominy against a country ranked 117th in the world that everyone involved should hang their heads in shame."

Chief football writer Stephen McGowan's withering rebuke says: "Set against a night like this, Scotland's humiliations in the World Cup finals against Peru, Iran and Costa Rica can now be seen for what they were. The halcyon days.

"Four months since Alex McLeish secured a nervy passage towards a Nations League play-off by beating Israel, the nature of defeat to also-rans Kazakhstan was so woeful, so mortifying, that questions will now be asked over his very future as Scotland manager."

The Herald

The Glasgow-based broadsheet's sport section leads off with "It's all gone to Eck". Inside, they reveal how McLeish tried to raise his team with a half-time team talk that referenced their rugby compatriots' astonishing second-half comeback against England as they fought back from 31-0 down to salvage a Calcutta Cup draw.

There was to be no repeat, though, as they admit the "Spirit of Twickenham dies a sorry death". Graeme Shinne had a torrid night as he stood in at left back and Graeme McGarry spared little with his assessment as he writes: "The Aberdeen skipper is characterised at club level for his commitment, outstanding work-rate and no little skill in the middle of the park, but he showed none of those qualities here at left-back.

"To be fair to Shinnie, he was press-ganged into playing there due to the absence of Scotland captain Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney, but even allowing for the fact he has not regularly played in the role for a number of years now, he still looked startlingly out of his depth."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Andy Newport, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', '5c8d096d-d6f9-4e32-92c7-675b838257df');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'How the Scottish press reacted to Kazakhstan defeat'});

ID:354152: cacheID:354152:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9088:No Data Analysis info
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Scotland head coach Alex McLeish reacts during his side's defeat to Kazakhstan on March 21, 2019
Read Next:
Alex McLeish defiant after Scotland defeat
>
Read more about Alex McLeish Football
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Bublik
Carballes Baena
10am
Marozsan
Cerundolo
10am
Musetti
Seyboth Wild
10am
Paul
Klein
10am
Rublev
Bagnis
10am
Andreeva
Noskova
10am
Bronzetti
Rybakina
10am
Garcia
Wang
10am
Pavlyuchenkova
Saville
11.30am
Altmaier
Fils
11.30am
Martin Etcheverry
Shapovalov
11.30am
Alexandrova
Krueger
11.30am
Bucsa
Kasatkina
11.30am
Dolehide
Kalinina
11.30am
Jimenez Kasintseva
Paolini
11.30am
Linette
Sabalenka
1pm
Baez
Van Assche
1pm
Hurkacz
Draper
1pm
Bejlek
Kalinskaya
1pm
Cristian
Krejcikova
1pm
Kostyuk
Sherif
2pm
Zheng
Putintseva
2.30pm
Humbert
Van De Zandschulp
2.30pm
Darderi
Fritz
2.30pm
Boulter
Montgomery
3pm
Shevchenko
Alcaraz
3.30pm
Vondrousova
Rogers
4pm
Griekspoor
Daniel
4pm
Munar
Struff
5pm
Navone
Rune
7pm
Coric
Zverev
8.30pm
Collins
Danilovic
11.30am
Shang
Davidovich Fokina
Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain870121
Q Scotland flag Scotland852117
3 Norway Norway832311
4 Georgia Georgia82248
5 Cyprus Cyprus80080

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France871022
Q Netherlands Netherlands860218
3 Greece Greece841313
4 Ireland Rep. Ireland82066
5 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar80080

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England862020
Q Italy Italy842214
3 Ukraine Ukraine842214
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia82248
5 Malta flag Malta80080

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Turkey Turkey852117
Q Croatia Croatia851216
3 Wales flag Wales833212
4 Armenia Armenia82248
5 Latvia Latvia81073

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania843115
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic843115
3 Poland Poland832311
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova824210
5 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands80262

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Belgium Belgium862020
Q Austria Austria861119
3 Sweden Sweden831410
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan82157
5 Estonia Estonia80171

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Hungary Hungary853018
Q Serbia Serbia842214
3 Montenegro Montenegro832311
4 Lithuania Lithuania81346
5 Bulgaria Bulgaria80444

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark1071222
Q Slovenia Slovenia1071222
3 Finland Finland1060418
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan1060418
5 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland103079
6 San Marino flag San Marino1000100

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania1064022
Q Switzerland Switzerland1045117
3 Israel Israel1043315
4 Belarus Belarus1033412
5 Kosovo flag Kosovo1025311
6 Andorra flag Andorra100282

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal10100030
Q Slovakia Slovakia1071222
3 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg1052317
4 Iceland Iceland1031610
5 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina103079
6 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein1000100


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!