So, where did it all go wrong then Gordon?

And, perhaps more importantly, what has to change now in order to get it right?

A Euro 2016 qualifying bid which began with such hope after a stirring fightback against the newly-crowned world champions Germany in Dortmund in September last year ended this week as it so often has in the last two decades; in abject failure and bitter disappointment.

Scotland supporters have had their hopes of making it through to the finals of a major tournament cruelly dashed on myriad occasions before.

But has a campaign ended in such an excruciating manner as it did against Poland at Hampden on Thursday evening? At the moment, it is very hard to remember one hurting quite so badly.

Gordon Strachan’s men had recovered well after losing an early goal to Robert Lewandowski. Exceptional strikes from Matt Ritchie just before half-time and the much-maligned Steven Fletcher in the second half had given them the lead.

The stadium was bouncing. The fans could sense an historic triumph. They should really have known far better.

The ugly equaliser the visitors bundled over the line in the fourth minute of injury-time – Kamil Grosicki’s free-kick was deflected past David Marhsall and onto the inside of the post off the arm of Grant Hanley before Lewandowski bundled it over the line – just added to the indignity of it all.

The 2-2 draw means the national team is six points behind both Poland and the Republic of Ireland in Group D and is incapable of even finishing in third place. The 17 year wait to progress to either the European Championship or World Cup finals continues.

Strachan will, after the dead rubber against Gibraltar in the Estadio Algarve in Portugal on Sunday has been negotiated, attempt to ascertain why his side was unable to maintain their bright start and, at the very least, claim a play-off spot.

The post-mortem will be painful for him. It will also, though, be fairly straightforward to ascertain where things unravelled.

The 1-0 defeat to Georgia in Tbilisi last month was catastrophic. The lines between success and failure in international football are infinitesimal. If an away win had been recorded in that solitary outing in the Boris Paichadze Dinamo Arena, as it should have been, then their campaign would still be alive.

That game apart, though, there was, for me at least, not a great deal more the manager could have done with the group of players at his disposal in the other eight games.

Should Scotland have drawn or even beaten Germany in either of their meetings with Joachim Loew’s side? It was unrealistic to expect them to take anything from those outings. Losing by the odd goal – they lost 2-1 away in September and 3-2 at home last month – on both occasions was no disgrace.

It has been suggested by many that the 1-1 draw against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in June was poor. Average opposition should, it has been claimed, have been comfortably dispatched. But just try telling Germany that. They crashed to a 1-0 defeat there on Thursday night.

Yes, the Scotland performance in the first half against Martin O’Neill’s side left much to be desired. But they regrouped and scored a well-worked equaliser in the second half. In the light of subsequent events, it is clear that was a point gained rather than two points dropped.

Scotland’s head-to-head record against the second and third placed sides in the section is respectable. They drew with a good Poland side twice and beat and drew with Ireland. Should they have done better in any of those meetings? Was going undefeated not good enough?

Strachan’s stewardship of his country is being scrutinised by supporters. What could he have done differently? Could he have picked better players? Could he have chosen a more effective formation than the 4-2-3-1 set-up he always favours? Could he have used better tactics? Many will enquire: “Is Gordon Strachan the best man to lead us forward?”

There have been Tartan Army footsoliders who would have liked to have seen Darren Fletcher, Craig Gordon, Gordon Greer, James McArthur, Jordan Rhodes, Andrew Robertson, Steven Whittaker and, in particular, Leigh Griffiths feature more regularly.

But no two fans have the same opinion on a side. There will always be moans. Players instantly become world beaters when they are left out of a starting line-up. It is hard to find major fault with any of the team selections apart from, perhaps, the one against Ireland away.

That game, too, came nearly six weeks after many of Strachan’s squad members had last played in a competitive game. He can be forgiven for overthinking things on that occasion.

The 58-year-old, the former Coventry City, Southampton, Celtic and Middlesbrough manager, may decide to step aside and let somebody else take charge when his contract expires at the end of this month. But I, for one, hope he remains to lead our attempt to reach Russia 2018.

That will be even more difficult than the campaign which has just passed. England, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta lie in wait in Group F. Only one side goes through to the World Cup finals automatically. There is, then, no margin for error.

So changing the man at the helm now is way too risky. Berti Vogts, George Burley and Craig Levein all came into the job with impressive track records only for their tenures to be deeply disappointing.

Scotland do not have a world-class talent, the likes of a Lewandowski, at their disposal. Defensively especially, they are limited. But Strachan invariably gets the very best out of those players he does have.

The 50-times capped former internationalist is loyal and his players respond to that. There have, despite an individual like Darren Fletcher being consistently overlooked, been no splits in the camp, no fall-outs and no mysterious call-offs. That tells its own story.

Strachan is, too, keen to give skilful footballers, entertainers people will happily pay their hard-earned money to see in action, the chance to exhibit their talents. Ikechi Anya, James Forrest, Shaun Maloney and Matt Ritchie have all shone at times in the last season or so.

Scotland fans, the intelligent ones anyway, understand their team’s limitations and are content if they can perform to the best of their abilities. They should ask themselves this question. Is there anybody out there who can do a better job than Gordon Strachan?