Injuries, poor form & bad decisions - were Scotland doomed from start?

Are Scotland fans always destined to feel like this?

The Tartan Army have endured some brutal blows in the last 30 years, but Villa Park in '96, Saint-Etienne two years later or England at Wembley have nothing on this.

The Scottish fairy of false hope did her worst in Stuttgart as Hungary's late goal crushed the dreams of a nation that had started to believe this time it was different.

But for all optimism garnered from the draw against Switzerland, was it always going to be an uphill task for this Scotland team?

Injuries have decimated supporting cast

Scotland have players close to their prime playing for big teams in England and beyond such as Andrew Robertson, Scott McTominay, Kieran Tierney and John McGinn.

Manchester United's McTominay took the headlines in qualifying with his goals, but the key to reaching Germany was a collective effort.

Plenty of others played their part but were missing by the time the supposed fun started.

Lyndon Dykes scored the first in Oslo a year ago to stun Norway, but injury in the pre-tournament camp halted his participation.

By that point, Clarke had already been denied the services of Lewis Ferguson - one of Serie A's brightest talents - as well Aaron Hickey and Nathan Patterson. Both would have played at right wing-back in front of Anthony Ralston.

By the time Scotland got to Germany, the head coach's selection conundrum was only to get more complicated.

Centre-back Ryan Porteous was suspended for games two and three after a red card against Germany.

And Tierney - around whom this Scotland system is built - had his tournament ended by a hamstring injury against Switzerland.

Deep-rooted lack of cutting edge

For a fair chunk of the game against Hungary, Scotland fans would have been forgiven for thinking Mel Gibson had delivered the pre-match instructions.

Thinking back to Hollywood blockbuster Braveheart, images of the kilted Australian screaming "hooooold" repeatedly came to mind as Scotland seemed content not to advance deep into Hungarian territory in Stuttgart.

There was a late cavalry charge, but by then the legs were going and the gaps were opened at the other end.

Scoring goals and having a lack of cutting edge is not a new issue for Scotland.

They have only scored more than twice in a game three times in their last 20 matches. Two were against Cyprus and one was a dead rubber at home to Norway.

It is an issue which was only further highlighted by the loss of Dykes, as well as the absence of attacking width from Tierney, Hickey or Patterson.

It triggered a nervousness at the back, too, drawing the dynamic Billy Gilmour deeper and deeper to receive the ball when the Scots desperately wanted him further forward.

"Hungary clearly have done their homework," said Scotland captain Rachel Corsie on BBC One.

"They obviously felt if you allow Scotland to have the ball they'll struggle to break you down and create clear opportunities."

Scotland's expected goal tallies of 0.02, 0.76 and 0.17 for the three group games tell their own sad story.

Right group but wrong time?

When the group draw was made on 2 December in Hamburg, the Tartan Army would have relished the prospect.

Germany were hosts, but they had just changed coach and seemed to be stalling. Hungary's 14-game unbeaten run was flying under the radar. Switzerland seemed beatable.

However, it was the form of Clarke's team which hinted at what was to eventually unfold.

At the time of that draw, Scotland were on a four-game winless streak, mainly because of weighty friendly opposition.

That run would extend to seven before Gibraltar were eventually seen off in Portugal earlier this month. Another two losses and two draws have followed.

The hard work to get to Germany was done by this team a year ago thanks to a run of five wins - including against Spain and Norway.

The fluidity, dynamism and threat of those days was not checked in at Glasgow Airport two weeks ago, but in truth it was lost along the way some time before that.

If the Euros had been played last summer Scotland may well have already been in the last 16 hat. But they weren't.

Did Clarke get it wrong?

Glance through some of the responses from fans and it is clear there is a lot of discontent not only with selection but also with tactics from the Scotland boss.

The gripes include not changing to a 4-4-2 against Hungary, sticking with Ralston after the Germany game and not playing James Forrest at right wing-back, and too much loyalty to Che Adams rather than giving Lawrence Shankland a start in attack.

The mauling from Germany on matchday one triggered a frenzy of panicked questions in beer gardens throughout Munich and beyond.

Clarke's exchange with set-piece coach Austin MacPhee after another botched routine in the Allianz Arena also hinted at a frustration in camp at a system which was not working.

However, BBC Sport pundit Pat Nevin - and avowed Clarke friend and backer - believes the head coach could not have done much more.

"I look at the group and think 'could you do much more with it? Probably not'," he said.

"Maybe if we had Hickey fit, the balance would have been better. Maybe Patterson could have come in.

"Maybe Ferguson would have given us an option. Or Dykes might have made a difference. But it is all in the edges."