Published on Thursday 1 March 2012 05:00
WITH last night’s friendly in Slovenia having arrived almost under the radar for Scottish football while the crisis at Rangers has dominated both print and broadcast media over the past couple of weeks, it was perhaps appropriate that live television coverage of the game should come from a relatively obscure source.
Primetime, the pay-per-view channel which normally restricts itself to combat sports, sneaked in at the back post to secure the rights from the Slovenian FA and leave Scotland punters scrolling through previously uncharted territory on their satellite digiboxes.
For those Tartan Army members who decided against the trip to the Adriatic holiday town of Koper, the £4.99 fee charged by Primetime was decent value for what proved to be a better-than-average international friendly.
Craig Levein’s 18th game in charge of Scotland produced only the third draw of his tenure, the 1-1 outcome just about right from a 90 minutes played at a surprisingly high tempo throughout.
It was certainly enjoyed by commentator Dominic Johnson, little known to Scottish fans but an experienced broadcaster who can currently be heard on Sky’s coverage of Spanish football. He proved assured and easy on the ear throughout. He was also a man on a solo mission. There was no pre-match or half-time studio team to back him up, Primetime instead filling those slots with clips from the failed Euro 2012 qualifying campaigns of both teams.
Scotland fans would have been encouraged to see Slovenia causing problems for Serbia, imminent World Cup qualifying opponents for Levein’s men, during the round-up of their campaign.
Far less appetising from a Scottish viewpoint was the sight of ten outfield Scotland players behind the ball as the “highlights” of the infamous 1-0 defeat in Prague back in October 2010 were rolled out.
Happily, there was no sign of 4-6-0 when live pictures finally burst onto the screen just before the national anthems were played. As Johnson was quick to recognise, however, Scotland’s deployment of Craig Mackail-Smith as the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation was confirmation that Levein remains an instinctively cautious manager.
Mackail-Smith’s isolation, coupled with the frustration experienced by Jamie Mackie and James Forrest in trying to secure the space and possession required to provide him with adequate support from the wide midfield positions, limited Scotland as an attacking force.
It was left to James Morrison, making intelligent and well timed forward incursions from central midfield, to carry Scotland’s greatest threat as he forced a couple of fine saves from Samir Handanovic, the Slovenian goalkeeper who performed so well earlier this season for Udinese against Celtic in the Europa League.
Commentator Johnson, perhaps betraying a personal affiliation to Norwich City, enthusiastically described Russell Martin as the “Norfolk Cafu”, a monicker apparently applied to him by the Carrow Road faithful. But the player who has been a stand-out in a superb season for Paul Lambert’s team in the Premier League was caught out by Andraz Kirm’s header which gave Slovenia their 33rd-minute lead, perhaps even getting the final unwitting touch himself.
It was harsh on Scotland at that stage of the game and they fully deserved their equaliser seven minutes later, a thumping downward header from Christophe Berra which left Handanovic helpless.
During a second half punctuated by the predictable raft of substitutions from both teams, Johnson stayed impressively on top of proceedings. There was one slip of the tongue, as captain for the night Gary Caldwell was called Steven before an immediate apology.
But when Levein reviews the footage of the game, he better do so with the sound switched down at around the 78th minute mark. That was when Johnson dared to mention the “F word”. Scotland’s impotence up front understandably prompted the English-based commentator to ponder aloud why Steven Fletcher, the leading Scottish striker in the Premier League, was absent. It’s a long story, Dominic.
The local Slovenian TV director switched to shots of the VIP section, such as it was, in the tiny Bonifika Stadium on a couple of occasions. Maybe it was just a co-incidence, but both times he picked out SFA chief executive Stewart Regan apparently oblivious to the action on the pitch and absorbed instead in his Blackberry mobile device, perhaps further enlightening his Twitter following.
At full-time, there was barely time for Johnson to sign off before the Primetime coverage cut off. No post-match interviews then, but safe to say Levein would have been satisfied with a result which leaves him with a win percentage of exactly 50 per cent from his tenure so far.
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