It seems a little rude to waken a team from hibernation and immediately knock it out. There will be no easing into the year for Scotland, no gentle passage as they rub the sleep from their eyes in their first shift for four months.
In Greece they open their 2025 campaign against the country which will do more than any other to shape their year and possibly even make it Steve Clarke’s last as manager. They are straight into a Nations League play-off and cannot claim not to have been warned about what might be in store. On a wall of the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis, the home of Olympiacos which is hosting the first leg, there is a mural based on the iconic picture of