Friday November 13th 2026
Scotland Head Coach Sébastien Pocognoli announces his squad at Hampden.
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Adam Bowen
Scotland face North Macedonia tonight in the Nations League.
Scotland currently sits 3rd in the table after 4 games which were Sebastien Pocognoli’s first as Scotland Head Coach, recording a draw, 2 losses and 1 win.
He spoke to the press before the start of this camp.
Firstly, speaking about the depth of selection available to Pocognoli,
“I was really happy to have the selection we had in the previous camp because I wanted to see most of them in the September and November camps.
“We’ll see a lot of players, we’ve given some debuts and I’m happy with that because we’ll need it for the future.
“But we now have Che Adams back, Scott back, Kieran Tierney and we’re still missing Kenny McLean.
“These players bring stability. I’m pleased with this selection because we feel we have a good mix.”
In terms of performance and results from the last camp and looking towards this camp he had this to say,
“We need to improve. The first camp was to get to know each other.
“We created a lot of chances, maybe more than in previous years against those types of opponents.
“But the next step is to score more goals and clean up the mistakes we made.
“Because we conceded goals from nothing. We must try to be consistent in the way we want to play.
“We have a different system, different players and different approach to the game.
“I’m sure we can shine in that way but we need to make the standard higher and win games.
“That’s the idea for the next camp.”
The boss seems to be happy with what he has on offer and is determined to get greater results, hoping by March when the big games kick in, the real Scotland will be on show.
“For me each camp, each block, you need to improve. It is up to me to find a way and make the most of the time in that process.
“What is most important for me is we are ready to have a good qualification and to have a good Euros.
“To do this you need to face some challenges because you cannot get to the big moment without getting through challenges before it.
“We have already had some in the first camp and we hope we can have less in the next camp.”
He also made the point that at club level when a new manager comes in, it can take weeks or months to get their style of play on display however in international football, it is the same problem but less time to do it.
Speaking on the last camp,
“I really liked it. But in terms of intensity, four games, and I need to know everybody – like 50, 60 new faces. Plus you all [reporters] – 70! It is intense”
He said that he had one week away to refuel before coming back to review the camp and prepare for this current one.
It is a bit of a weird time for Scotland at the moment after Steve Clarck resigned following an underwhelming world cup after 7 years in charge.
As well as this, experienced players like Andy Roberston and John McGinn are getting older so there needs to be a focus on preparation through the youth so Scotland can keep moving forward.
Good news for Scotland fans is that Pocognoli used to work for the Belgian federation where his role was to work with young footballers, bringing in the right players and building them so they would become the future generation of the Belgian national team.
He said that he likes the Scotland job because it is similar to this previous role.
Talking on whether this job is bigger than he first thought,
“No, you always make the job like you want it.
“If you want to make it a big job it is a big job. If you want to come two days before the camp and just make the squad announcement then it is an easy job
“I want to have an impact, like we have spoken about before, in terms of refreshing the teams and to change the way we play a little bit, with all due respect to what we have done in the past.
“But it is a long process and it needs me to be here more than maybe the head coach of another national team.”
He also spoke about how he loves to be on the grass coaching and how as soon as he retired as a professional, he was straight on the pitch coaching young players in sport schools.
On the topic of transitioning from club football to international he said,
“In terms of preparing for games and being on the pitch I was in a club routine, and also last season with Monaco I was in the Champions League, so I got a lot of that.
“But for me I am in the right time in my life to accept having less time on the pitch and to enjoy a totally different job with a very special country,
“Because I think that this country loves football probably more than many of the other countries.”
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