Gary Armstrong, the man who captained Scotland to their last victory in the Five or Six Nations Championship, has asked whether Scott Johnson, the national coach, has "lost the dressing room", following his side's miserable start to the current campaign.
Armstrong, who was part of the 1990 grand slam-winning side, as well as leading his compatriots to the championship in 1999, was scathing about the manner of the back-to-back defeats against Ireland and England, which have left the Scots at the bottom of the table.
Pressed to pinpoint positives from these matches, Armstrong told Herald Sport: "You're asking the wrong man. I'm not even sure he [Johnson] has got the respect of the players any more. I can't understand a lot of the selection decisions he has made and nothing is clicking at the moment. Guys such as Kelly Brown and Richie Gray are being picked for one game, then ditched for the next, and the chopping and changing doesn't make any sense. I feel sorry for some of these lads, but I feel even more sorry for the supporters.
"It doesn't give me any pleasure to say this. It's exactly the opposite. It saddens me, it really does, because anybody who pulls on the Scottish jersey knows how much it means. You are not just playing for yourself; you are playing for your country and all those fans who pay good money to watch you.
"I don't know if the incoming coach [New Zealand's Vern Cotter] has any input into what is going on at the moment, but he can't be happy with the performances and I am not that optimistic things will get any better. We have to go to Italy next and they stood up to the French scrum in Paris a lot better than we have managed in the two matches so far. It is very, very hard to find positives."
Armstrong's downbeat mood was echoed by his former team-mate, George Graham, who said he was concerned at the dearth of ideas or even a mastery of basic skills, which he had witnessed throughout the opening brace of fixtures.
"The boys didn't look as if they are having any fun or enjoyment from what they are doing; there wasn't much sign that they had a Plan B; and they are short of confidence. It doesn't add up to a great combination," said the former Scotland prop.
"But we have to be careful about being too critical in these situations. Some people have claimed the Scottish boys have lost their pride and passion, but that is rubbish. They are trying their hardest but it isn't happening for them. I think the lads have to remember that rugby is supposed to be fun and they should go out and express themselves.
"Things can change quickly in sport. Let's not forget, either, that England played really well against us and the Scots got hit with the backlash from them losing in Paris. What we can't keep doing is bringing in lads then discarding them, and constantly changing the side. We have to show a bit of faith in some of the youngsters and let them develop."
Graham was particularly irritated by the notion that Stuart Hogg, the Glasgow full-back, should be switched to the stand-off berth at the expense of Duncan Weir in Italy.
"There is a tendency for us to build players up then knock them down and, yes, Duncan didn't have his best match against England. But how many games has Hoggy played for Glasgow at No.10 this season? Or last season? You can't just fling people into different positions at a few days' notice and expect them to hit the ground running," said Graham.
"I would stick with Duncan for Italy and tell him, 'Don't be scared to have a go'.
"I know he kicked away a lot of possession, but he doesn't do that at Glasgow, so was he acting on orders and sticking to the game plan?"
Which brings us back to the coach.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article