Scotland are now chasing away the desperate fatalism that gripped the nation after that defeat to Hungary and during the epic run of one win in 16 matches, but there is still much to do. To start, the A-League relegation play-off in March. For a few seconds, a World Cup qualifying campaign that will require luck in the draw to navigate.
What will things be like in March? Scotland have a goalscoring legend in McGinn and a constant contributor in Scott McTominay, but they still only finished with seven goals in six Nations League games.
The lack of a forward continues to be the big problem. Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes, Lawrence Shankland and Tommy Conway tried it. Everyone works hard, everyone is capable of helping create chances for the midfielders, but none of them scored in the Nations League.
That is an unsolvable problem at this time. Nobody passes. Clarke always says that it doesn’t really matter where the targets come from, as long as they come. And he is right.
However, for Scotland to advance to the next level, it is suspected that they will need more creativity and more ruthlessness in attack.
Therefore, the emergence of Ben Doak has been an exciting step in the right direction. Ryan Gauld’s contributions from the bench have also been notable. Scotland have a long way to go on the offensive end, but the game against Poland showed that there is now a will to attack that did not exist in the discouraging summer in Germany.
Being so competitive in six A-League games against star opposition can only help Scotland mature. Things will get really interesting when some of the injured stars return to the fold. They could become more interesting again if young forward Lennon Miller continues to progress so quickly.
A team that started with worrying losses on the road to Germany before fading into a dead end in the tournament itself has emerged from the darkness and appears to be headed back toward the light.
The Nations League relegation fight and World Cup qualifiers will be the ultimate test of that, but at least Clarke can take solace in the fact that even his most excitable critics have remained relatively silent for now. That’s if he ever cared about the noise, which is doubtful.
