Netherlands 3-0 Scotland

Really, not far from the expected result. There were some questionable referee decisions, but it would be wrong to say they cost us the game. We were outplayed, barely had a chance at the Dutch goal, etc etc. To be honest, with the crap stream I watched the match on (late, since I had a game of my own to play in), I can’t give a definitive answer on whether Caldwell’s goal should have stood, and when I can’t definitely argue with it, I tend to go with the ref’s decision. Even a ref that the French won’t even allow to officiate league games, and therefore has no place reffing a World Cup qualifier. Nice to see Kenny Miller get a shot on frame, but the fact is that three shots, one on target, was never going to be nearly enough against an offensive powerhouse like the Dutch.

Moving on. The match Wednesday is, realistically, the one that matters. Holland owns this group, and I conceded that basically when the draw was made. But Scotland should be the second-strongest team here, and anything less than a second-place finish, and a playoff for qualification, should frankly be George Burley’s head. That penalty goal for Holland might have been meaningless for the result of this game, but it was very meaningful in terms of putting Scotland behind Iceland on goal differential, and knocking us out of the second position. On Wednesday, in Glasgow, we need to beat Iceland, and if we can’t, we don’t deserve to go to South Africa.

As far as squad changes, it’s hard to say. Christophe Berra was clearly overcome by the challenge of opening his international career against Holland, and to be fair it was a bit of a harsh way to get his first start. Iceland would have been a far kinder way to start. Alan Hutton made an appearance, against expectations, and I hope he’ll be closer to form on Wednesday. In general, our back line was weak, and set the tone for a disappointing day. We won’t face this kind of quality on Wednesday, but we still have to better, and more solid, to get all the points safely and take that second-place spot. The danger man to watch will be Eiður Guðjohnsen , though with no Icelander scoring more than one goal from open play so far in the qualifiers, that’s a bit speculative.

Mon the Scots.