7 Scotland alarm bells ringing loud ahead of Euro 2024 as misfiring strikers just tip of the iceberg

It's never straightforward being Scottish.

Just as we were into the habit of being good and winning games, an absolute stinker of an international camp for Steve Clarke and his team hits us all in the chops. It will take a lot more than that to curb the enthusiasm for Germany, but it was a good first step in that direction as a wasteful hammering against the Dutch and a Hampden shocker against Northern Ireland stopped the Tartan momentum in its tracks.

After a stunning qualifying campaign, all of a sudden it's seven games without a win and there's a heavy onus for two positive results in the June warmup friendlies to get the nation buzzing again. Clarke isn't having talk of a crisis, and justifiably so after back-to-back Euro qualifications - it's a long way from Kazakhstan go chasing a fourth after all. But that's not to say there aren't a few alarm bells ringing and fires that need put out before we board the plane to Germany. Record Sport take a look at a few of the glaring issues that need addressed.

The smile on Ronald Koeman's face after the Dutch thumped us 4-0 in Amsterdam said it all. He and his team had been let off with one, and he knew it. How Scotland didn't score a goal in that game is frankly unbelievable. Ryan Christie, at least, should have had us ahead before TIjani Reijnders stunner opened the scoring, and the Scots had countless chances to equalise before things went AWOL When even Lawrence Shankland, on 27 goals for Hearts this season, is fluffing one-on-ones and hitting the crossbar, you know it's not happening for you.

Neither Shankland nor Lyndon Dykes or even Che Adams grabbed the brass rings during the international break and it was the first camp since November 2020 that we've failed to score