ACROPOLIS NOW

Darkness in our hearts after this Greek shocker - now Clarke has to find way to salvage the connection with fans.. again

- KEITH JACKSON

THIS was a beating so bloody and gory that it should probably have been given an X certificate.

Acropolis Now. The night Steve Clarke's Scotland were gunned down and massacred on home soil while also being disembowelled as a member of the Nations League elite.

A punishing, painful and ultimately pride-swallowing affair which was no more than Scotland deserved after such an unexpectedly pitiful performance.

Of course Clarke and his players went into this twolegged tragedy with the Greeks with plenty of credit back in the bank, having piled it back in the vault on the back of such a thoroughly feeble showing at last summer's Euros.

But they have come out with the jeers of the Tartan Army back ringing in their ears all over again and, once more, manager Clarke is going to have to find a way of reconnecting his team with its own support.

And he'll have to do it sharpish too before it blows his chances of bowing out of the job at the next World Cup finals, with that qualification campaign opening up in less than six months.

Clarke may even have to convince some of these fans that he is still the right man to lead the team because some of the decisions he was responsible for backfired spectacularly. It was unlike him. It was unlike his team.

And it made for truly horrific viewing- and not just for those inside the National Stadium.

Come to think of it, it was difficult to decide who was having the worst night-Clarke's Scotland or BBC Scotland whose production team took forever to work out how to pair up the live pictures with the accompanying audio.

But the truth is Clarke and his players were every bit as out of sync as the broadcasters and the manager has to carry the can.