Scotland fans came to Hampden to welcome the new man, Sebastien Pocognoli, and left with all the woes of old weighing them down as they went. More calamitous defending in the beginning, another self-inflicted wound that was a complete game-changer, another day without a goal - four in a row now. In the early minutes when Jack Hendry got himself sent off, we may as well have been back amid the meltdown of Miami.

Hendry's red card was a grim moment that sucked the life out of the occasion. Switzerland don't lose many games. Their coach, Murat Yakin, has the calm authority of a man who knows, with absolute certainty, that his team will prevail. Once the opening goal went in, Yakin turned around in his technical area with a half-smile on his face. Job done, already.

There was little Scotland could do about the brilliant way the Swiss cut them open to send Dan Ndoye away so early in the game, but there was plenty Hendry could have done - or should not have done - when he was at the heart of a foot-rush and a mismatch. Reaching out to grab Ndoye was a fatal act. Later, captain Andy Robertson tried to explain what might have been going through Hendry's head, saying that it is anathema to a defender to just allow a striker a shot on goal.

Scotland worked like dervishes in the aftermath. They fought and scraped. John Mc Ginn bought a bunch of fouls; Oli Mc Burnie battled hard. There was an inevitability about it all. Switzerland dealt handily with Scotland's enthusiasm and waited to land the knockout blows, which came later on. A second goal didn't flatter them. Neither did a third. The next chapter comes in Skopje on Saturday. You hesitate to call it a must-win so soon in Pocognoli's reign, but for feel-good purposes it really is.