The late Craig Brown was as dedicated as he was meticulous as Scotland manager.

There was always a match to prepare for, but Brown was studious about the national team’s medium- and long-term prospects.

The top seed for upcoming tournaments was never far from his mind when it came to picking friendly opposition and trying to improve the team’s ranking as much as possible.

In September 2023, Scotland beat Cyprus in Euro 2024 qualifying to effectively seal a place in the final in Germany. Since then, they have only won once and not at all in competition.

With promotion to the Nations League achieved the previous year and a major tournament to prepare for, the decision was made to generally play friendlies against the higher-ranked nations.

What followed were crushing defeats against England, France and the Netherlands, with competitive defeats against Spain and Euro 2024 humiliating against the hosts on the opening night in Munich.

Failing to get the better of Georgia, a Norway without Erling Haaland during their last Euro qualifiers, as well as Northern Ireland and Finland in friendly matches did not help the cause while Scotland struggled to regain the composure they had previously shown.