SCOTLAND suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat against Kazakhstan yesterday, with national team manager Alex McLeish insisting that his team can bounce back from the chastening loss. "It’s never finished until it’s finished," McLeish. "We bounced back from a poor performance in Israel and that’s what we must do after this game."
And McLeish revealed he tried to use the Scotland rugby team's spectacular comeback against England at Twickenham as inspiration for his players at half-time, but to no avail. "We brought up the rugby team at half-time and tried to use that as an example," said McLeish. "We said it was time to roll the sleeves up and get a grip on the game."
If you're feeling brave, you can check out our player ratings from yesterday's game. Only one player scored higher than a 5.
Scotland captain Callum McGregor was involved in a touchline spat with coach James McFadden after the full-time whistle, but insisted it was purely because he was frustrated with the result. McGregor said: "It was nothing to do with James, I was just trying to get everyone together to go to the fans."
Graeme Shinnie, who deputised at left back for Scotland, took responsibility for the defeat after the game and thinks he could struggle to hold onto his place in McLeish's starting lineup. "I am just gutted," said Shinnie. "I can’t see myself getting back into the team now."
The Herald's Graeme McGarry has drawn up a list of five things we can learn from the 3-0 defeat.
And Graeme reckons that Scotland fans' sense of anger and frustration has been replaced with apathy in the aftermath of yesterday's game.
And Matthew Lindsay believes that Scotland's bid to qualify for Euro 2020 could be over already after the abject defeat.
Stewart Fisher has dug into the details of last night's game, dissecting the tactics employed by McLeish in a bid to identify where it all went wrong at the Astana Arena.
New England midfielder Declan Rice has apologised for old social media posts he made as a teenager which appear to support the IRA. The 20-year-old made a comment on Instagram in 2015, which read: "My brudda. UP THE RA. Wait till we draw England."
Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne has promised to address the concerns of residents living near the site of the club's £50m stadium and training ground project after protesters dropped their appeal bid against the plans. A statement on the club's website read: "This may be the end of the road for further legal challenge, but it's the start of a journey for us and we will continue to engage with the local community to ensure that we address their concerns while delivering fantastic community and sports facilities."
Motherwell chief executive Alan Burrows has insisted that the restructure of the Irn-Bru Cup has breathed new life into the competition. Burrows said: "We’ve played against a lot of first-team sides in matches that mean something, and we feel that has made a lot of our young players better prepared for the step up."
In rugby, Robbie Nairn is hoping to have staked a claim for a place in the Glasgow Warriors starting lineup. Nairn said: "I feel I have a lot more to give, there’s a lot more that I’ve still to show the fans."
And in boxing, Scotland's Reece McFadden has revealed the unusual story of how he has ended up in the ring the night before his wedding day. "It is just part and parcel, I am a professional boxer, I am always going to have wee cuts and marks on my face," said the 23-year-old.
Elsewhere, Rangers midfielder Ross McCrorie has told the Scottish Sun that he trusts his manager Steven Gerrard and is not worried that he has only played four times since Glen Kamara arrived in January.
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