VVisitors to the cafe at Hampden Park were treated to footage of our condition on Wednesday lunchtime. Several screens showed a replay of Scotland’s 2-0 win over Spain in March last year. Blurry memories in watercolour. Spain have not tasted defeat since. Scotland will begin their Nations League campaign against Poland on Thursday, having managed just one win in 12 matches – against Gibraltar – and with the consequences of a miserable Euro 2024 reverberating from Wick to Wigtownshire.

Twelve years ago, Craig Levein walked into the conservatory of a Brussels hotel and remarked to the Scottish Football Association’s communications director that the surroundings were quite luxurious. “Too nice for this team,” said Levein. His target was a Scottish press pack with whom relations had become toxic.

Scotland lost to Belgium, World Cup qualification ended after four games and Levein lost his job. Steve Clarke is facing a run that will prove crucial, especially in terms of public perception. Advancing to Group A – with Portugal and Croatia also waiting for him – was Scotland’s upward trend, but now it poses great danger.

Clarke lacks Levein’s confrontational approach. So far, at least. It was a nervous, uncertain manager who faced the media to announce the visit of Robert Lewandowski and co. The high point of Spain seems a lifetime ago. It seems as though Clarke thinks criticism of Scotland’s performance in Germany, where they picked up just one point from three games, is overly harsh. The manager lives in England, which protected him from a fierce backlash north of the border after Scotland failed to make it to the European Championships. The anger was palpable.

“We felt our country was behind us in the summer and we know they are disappointed,” said captain Andy Robertson. “Now it’s up to us to bring them back. It’s up to us to show on the pitch that we’re ready to fight, that we’re ready to win games, that we’re ready to play hard. If we can do that, then we know our fans will support us too because we know they love supporting Scotland.”

“We saw that in the summer. I think the Germans absolutely loved them and we want that again. We felt the love in the summer and of course we were all disappointed in the end, but it’s up to us to try to feel the love again.”

Levein’s point of no return, in the eyes of the Tartan Army, came with the deployment of a 4-6-0 formation against the Czech Republic. Scotland’s lack of aggression and attacking spirit against Hungary in their final Euro 2024 match drew similar derision. For managers, perception quickly turns into reality. Clarke is unfairly viewed by some as dour and one-dimensional.

Clarke has raised standards to the point where tournament football, once an unattainable dream, has been achieved twice in three attempts. “It’s been a long summer for me and I’m looking forward to the game and what we get from the players,” Clarke said. “I’m sure we’ll get a good response.” A look at Clarke’s personnel provides important mitigating factors. Scotland lacks talent anywhere near the top level. Whether the impatient public cares is another question.

“With these six games over the next three transfer windows, I think it’s fair to say we can use them to make sure we know where we stand when we get to the World Cup qualifiers,” Clarke said. “What we can do as a team and how successful we can be as a team. That’s what we need to work towards.”

Circumstances that may not be relevant in isolation have been thrown together to add to the unease. Graeme Jones, the Scottish Football Association’s performance director and a key ally of Clarke, is soon to depart for Heart of Midlothian. Clarke dismissed a report that Che Adams would rather stay in Italy to get used to life at Torino than play in these games. “There was an official email from Torino saying he had sustained thigh and knee injuries in the games,” Clarke said. “They asked for him to be withdrawn.”

Celtic duo James Forrest and Greg Taylor also cancelled. Forrest had spoken positively about his fitness immediately after Sunday’s Old Firm game. James Morrison has left the Scottish coaching staff after just one year. His successor Alan Irvine means that the three best men in this team are 60 years or older.

Such trivialities can quickly become a crisis. Clarke’s Scotland must use the game against Poland to prove that it is capable of writing another positive story.