Ally McCoist names three problems new Scotland boss Sebastien Pocognoli must fix now

Ally McCoist has urged Sebastien Pocognoli to implement a new attacking approach with Scotland to take them to the next level.

Pocognoli was confirmed as Steve Clarke’s successor on Sunday, signalling a new era for the Tartan Army.

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Former Belgium defender Pocognoli left Monaco at the end of last season and previously led Union Saint-Gilloise in his homeland to their first league title in 90 years in 2024/25.

He replaces Clarke, who immediately stepped down after the team’s disappointing World Cup group stage exit.

His side finished the group stage as the 11th best third-place team and missed out on a place in the last 32 on goal difference.

This brought an end to Clarke‘s seven-year stint, during which time he earned huge praise for ending Scotland’s major tournament hiatus.

The 62-year-old guided them to back-to-back European Championships after a 23-year absence, while this summer’s World Cup was their first appearance since 1998.

But Clarke’s tenure was tinged with mixed emotions as he failed to guide the national team out of the group stage on all three occasions.

Across three major tournament appearances, Scotland managed to score just four goals, with their only win coming against Haiti at the 2026 World Cup.

Take the handbrake off

With Clarke drawing criticism for an overly cautious approach this summer, former Scotland striker McCoist admitted this has to change under new manager Pocognoli for them to finally make it out of the group stage.

He told Monday’s talkSPORT Breakfast: “I think they’ve got to unleash them a little bit. 

“First of all, Steve’s done a fabulous job, right? I really do [think that]. Moaning about not getting a major tournament and all of a sudden he gets us to three, great. 

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Despite praising Clarke for his Scotland tenure, McCoist admitted his side’s performances at major tournaments have been poor.

He highlighted the national team’s lack of positive results at the last two European Championships and the 2026 World Cup, insisting a 0-0 draw with England at Euro 2020 and their opening game victory over Haiti this summer were their only real highlights.

McCoist continued: “We haven’t performed at any of them. We had a draw at Wembley [with England].

“Poor Euro 2024, going over by Germany. The last game against Hungary was poor, we got a double deflected goal against Haiti and then a reasonable performance, I suppose, against Morocco, but disappointing. 

“We never had a goal. We just looked as though we never had a goal.”

Cut out defensive errors

After urging Pocognoli to introduce a more front-foot approach in his Scotland team, McCoist then insisted he must cut out costly defensive errors if they are to have a chance of getting results.

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Grant Hanley’s attempt at playing the offside trap allowed Morocco to score the only goal to beat the Tartan Army this summer, before more individual errors led to a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in their final group game.

The ex-Rangers boss added: “The first thing we’ve got to do is cut out stupid defensive errors, right?

“The goals that we lost at the World Cup, from our point of view, were bordering on ridiculous. They were ridiculous.

“I mean, we were up against two excellent teams in Morocco and Brazil. And the one thing you can’t do is give them a goal at the start, which effectively we did, defensively.”

Star players must step up

Continuing to highlight where Pocognoli must improve Scotland, McCoist called on him to get the best out of his key players.

Returning to the World Cup, he told talkSPORT Breakfast: “Our big players, I don’t think, turned up for the tournament.

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“I think John McGinn, who incidentally I thought had a sensational 20-25 minutes in the Super Cup and he’s without doubt been tremendous for us – I don’t think he had a great tournament. 

“I don’t think Scott McTominay had a great tournament, and we need those boys to turn up for us.

“We had such a high in the final game to qualify for it, to get us there. And then I just feel we didn’t do ourselves justice at all. 

“And I just feel sometimes you could maybe, and it’s the easiest thing in the world to say, unleash them and go and have a go, right? I don’t think we did that. I don’t think we do that. 

“And the proof of the pudding is you look at a team like Cape Verde, who the one thing they do, they have a goal. And they grabbed everybody’s attention. I did the Argentina game, the story about the goalkeeper [Vozinha], the whole thing. 

“And that would be a little bit of regret as a Scottish fan over there watching it.”

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Despite highlighting three major areas for improvement, McCoist insisted the future is still bright for Scotland under Pocognoli.

With a joint-hosted home European Championship to come in 2028, the Rangers icon insisted the Tartan Army should feel optimistic about qualify, with two host nations getting automatic qualification.

He rounded off: “I think there’s certainly talent to work with for the new manager. And I still think defensively, we’re a little bit suspect.

“But the chances are hopefully good that we can get to the next Euros, obviously, with them being where they are. 

“And if we do get there, I’d just like to see us have a bit more of a go, a bit more… commitment’s not the right word because the commitment is obviously there, but I don’t know, unleash them a little bit.”