Final Group Standings

Wednesday 8th September, 2004
Scotland 0 v 0 Slovenia

Saturday 9th October, 2004
Scotland 0 v 1 Norway

Wednesday 13th October, 2004
Moldova 1 v 1 Scotland

Saturday 26th March 2005
Italy 2 v 0 Scotland

Saturday 4th June 2005
Scotland 2 v 0 Moldova

Wed 8th June 2005
Belarus 0 v 0 Scotland

3rd September 2005
Scotland 1 v 1 Italy

7th September 2005
Norway 1 v 2 Scotland

8th October 2005
Scotland 0 v 1 Belarus

12th October 2005
Slovenia 0 v 3 Scotland

View fae the Isles on our campaign...

The poor start in the first 3 games cost us dear and we never really recovered from it, 2 points from a possible (and realistic) 9 meant that a play-off place was looking unlikely. Changing the Manager half way through the campaign was an avoidable distraction (it should have been done before we started) but credit is due to Walter Smith for restoring some belief in the players. Even playing virtually the same squad that Vogts had fielded the difference was obvious, no more confused line-ups and players looking quizzically at the bench for some guidance. We now seemed to have a team that knew what they were supposed to be doing. Although Walter Smiths tactics appear to err on the side of caution, with a resurgent Kenny Miller often ploughing a lonely furrow up front and more reliance being placed on creating and scoring from midfield. After a superb result against Norway in Oslo a play-off became a distinct possibility, but we were brought back to earth with a turgid performance against Belarus in which we got what we deserved. The final game in Slovenia had to be won to save us from dropping out of Qualification Pot 4 and into Pot 5, and a win was achieved with a 3 goal margin!
So at the end of the day no trip to Germany for us, but some very memorable and enjoyable trips to look back on.