Ian Wright fumes Scotland ‘being let down’ in damning ITV blast | Football | Sport

Ian Wright has accused Scotland bosses of “letting the country down” with an uninspiring brand of football despite “amazing” support from fans. The Tartan Army have secured their place in the knockout stages of the World Cup in North America with a match to spare, thanks to Group C offering three spots in the round of 32.

While Steve Clarke’s team scraped a 1-0 victory over Haiti in their opening fixture, it was hardly a commanding performance against one of the tournament’s weakest nations. When they faced Morocco last Friday, Scotland suffered a 1-0 defeat, barely troubling Yassine Bounou’s goal throughout the contest. And speaking as a pundit during ITV’s coverage of Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Qatar, Wright pulled no punches in his evaluation of Scotland’s struggles.

Mark Pougatch asked him: “Ian, what are you feeling about Scotland’s approach at the moment?” The Arsenal legend – stony-faced – then responded: “Well, when you look at it Pougs, I probably feel that when you said what is it, two shots on target? In two games, and none in the Moroccan game..

“I feel sorry for Scotland, I feel sorry for the fans, I feel sorry for everything. Laura (Woods) asked me a question the other day about Scotland – what can they do next? And I think it goes a lot deeper than that.

“When you look at Norway, a country the same size as Scotland – six or seven thousand they’re averaging on a weekly basis in attendance. Scotland’s averaging 16 thousand, but Norway have managed to get a broadcast deal that’s £25million more a year than Scotland.

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“Obviously they’ve got a better commercial outfit than them, but at the same time, you look at Scotland and their raw materials. You’re looking at amazing attendances, talents, you’re looking at storylines, you’re looking at grassroot participation.

“Somebody in Scotland is letting down this country on a massive scale. Very proud of them, all over the world, tourists…they’ve got to do more. There’s got to be a bolder, braver vision for Scottish football for me.”

Patrick Vieira, meanwhile, weighed in: “I think you have some individual talent in this team. (Scott) McTominay, (Billy) Gilmour are doing really well in Italy, and when you look at those players individually, they’re quite doing well for their club. So the question, Mark, is how they don’t manage to perform at that level in the internationals – especially in the World Cup?”

Duncan Ferguson then shed light on Scotland’s long-standing struggles to find a cutting edge in attack, before drawing a pointed comparison between his nation’s woes and England’s lethargic goalless draw with Ghana on Tuesday evening. The Everton legend said: “The Scottish fans want to see us getting through to the next round.

“That’s it. It doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as you get there. Look at Ghana yesterday against England. England never had a shot in the first-half on target, so it’s not just Scotland’s problem.

“England couldn’t get a goal against Ghana because they sat in a low block. There’s nothing wrong with sitting in a low block, there’s many facets to a football match. So Scotland can sit back in a low block, fine, but we need that threat. I’m not questioning that, we definitely need a threat going forward.”

When Vieira put it to Ferguson that Scotland appeared satisfied with a 1-0 defeat to Morocco, Ferguson refused to concur, countering: “I don’t know about that, Patrick. I think the boys gave everything, to be honest with you. You touched on McTominay – he covered every blade of grass.”

Standing his ground, the former Arsenal captain hit back: “I believe that they have more than what they showed against Morocco. I hope that they have more, and I believe they have more.”

Scotland face Brazil at 11pm on Wednesday evening in their final Group C fixture of the tournament, while Morocco take on Haiti simultaneously.