Scotland 0-0 Serbia: What the fans thought
By Andrew Southwick:
The Scotland fans were left gutted after the 0-0 draw with Serbia left us already staring up the table at our group rivals.
The optimism created ahead of the start of the World Cup Brazil 2014 qualifying campaign was extinguished after just 90 minutes, as Serbia frustrated Scotland at Hampden.
Craig Levein had spoke on Friday about how strong his squad was and the improvement his team had made in his two years as manager, but the Tartan Army were left unimpressed.
The verdict of the fans was clear. Jordan Rhodes and James Forrest must start against Macedonia on Tuesday, and that anything less than victory should spell the end of Craig Levein's reign.
David Maclennan of Aberdeen made the long journey south for the game, but felt James Morrison shouldn't bother turning up on Tuesday.
He said: "Very disappointing. When did Morrison last play well in a Scotland shirt? The team is very reliant on Scott Brown and Darren Fletcher for drive.
"Kenny Miller was left far too isolated. Craig Levein is well and truly on borrowed time now."
Maybole son Craig Forson said Scotland should have defeated what he felt was a poor Serbian side.
"Poor result, Serbia were terrible," said Craig. "Caldwell and Adam were passengers the whole game.
"Levein's tactics were all wrong, far too conservative. Fair enough to start off but we should have changed it when he saw Serbia were not a threat, and well before the last ten minutes.
"Two points lost rather than one gained I feel."
Steve Williams was unimpressed with Kenny Miller's performance, feeling it's time to freshen things up for Tuesday.
"Miller is past it; no pace, no touch and no talent. The changes were the right ones but far, far too late and Levein needs to get rid of the sunglasses.
"Gary Caldwell can't pass. Paul Dixon played alright and I feel I need to repeat that Miller is past it."
There was no sympathy for Miller from Kris Stuart either.
"The players tried their hardest but it all fell apart in the final third. Kenny Miller is useless - be okay as a sub when we are winning but hasn't performed at the top level for years and bottles it. The only thing worse than that is that Levein keeps picking him.
"Also, he made the subs far too late also. I wouldn't say sack Levein on the back of this result but he has little to no experience of European football management wise and always seems to be out of his depth."
Brothers Alan and David Young both agreed with the view that Levein should have made his substitutions earlier.
David said: "Not good enough. No creativity. Midfield was poor and Levein too stubborn not bringing Rhodes on sooner."
"We need to be more attacking," added Alan. "We sat far too deep, should have had Rhodes and Mackie on earlier."
Paisley lass Holly McCormack was another unimpressed by Levein's delay in bringing on Rhodes.
She said: "It was disappointing from Scotland. This is going to be a tight group and we really needed to start off the campaign with three points.
"I felt that Levein took too long in making a change and Jordan Rhodes should have been given at least another ten minutes on the pitch.
"Can take the positive of keeping a clean sheet but we need to be more ruthless in front of goal, particularly at home. Must do better against Macedonia."
The call was being made loud and clear by our panel, with fans desperate to see Jordan Rhodes on Tuesday, with fans also impressed by James Forrest when he came on for the last twenty minutes.
Dunoon's Paul Deeney said: "On that performance Levein cannot justify not starting Forrest and Rhodes. Game changed when Forrest came on and was unlucky not to score.
"Miller is a spent force, Rhodes is a hungry young striker in fantastic goal scoring form that should have been handed a start."
Ben Archibald said: "Defensively we were relatively sound although Hutton is a liability and should be ditched.
"In general we were very patchy, with no real cohesion in midfield.
"Kenny Miller was atrocious and looked like he had lead in his boots. Jamie Mackie was at least bustling when he came on and him or Rhodes need to start next game. Forrest as well, who injected much needed pace.
"I had time for Levein as a club manager but he's too stubborn and has been found out internationally. He needs a win on Tuesday or we're screwed, and his job is hanging by a thread."
Daniel Hayes also called for Levein's head should Scotland fail to beat Macedonia.
"Uninspiring, lethargic peformance," said Daniel. "Lack of options from middle to front cost us.
"Too many players unwilling to move into space for a pass to help teammates meant many attacks broke down before they had even begun.
"Serbia looked shaky at the back and this was definitely a missed opportunity.
"Levein's negative tactics are stifling a potentially decent side. A more positive formation is needed with Rhodes and Forrest must starts on Tuesday against Macedonia. Fail to win that one and the road to Rio has hit a dead end and Levein should be replaced by Gordon Strachan."
Christopher Russell kept it short and simple: "Disappointing, scared, insipid and overly cautious."
It wasn't all doom and gloom though, and Matthew Harold at least had some positive things to say about Scotland's performance.
Matthew said: "Scotland looked really good at the back, especially Paul Dixon who I felt was man of the match, along with Allan McGregor they both had superb games.
"Going forward we look very blunt and I hate to say it but it looks like Kenny Miller is on his last legs. Although he's given everything for Scotland, I think Tuesday is the perfect opportunity to start Jordan Rhodes and bring Miller on if needs must.
"Charlie Adam also needs to buck up his ideas, the amount of set pieces that he wasted was disgraceful and Craig Levein needs to have a word with him before the Macedonia game."
The final word goes to Laura Brannan, who feels the campaign is all but over already.
A dejected Brannan said: "I can't believe I waste money following that rubbish.
"We didn't make a sub until the 70th minute, and didn't play two up front until last ten minutes, and could barely string two passes together for 90 minutes.
"Too negative as usual and if Levein thinks that's progression then he's more deluded than I was before 3pm. See you at Euro 2016."
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