Seething Scott Gemmill brands Scotland Under-21 mauling by Iceland as 'embarrassing' as he fires warning to flops
The tartan babes were in action in a friendly in Murcia but it went horribly wrong and boss Gemmill pulled no punches
Scot Gemmill admitted it was 'embarrassing' after his Under 21s suffered a disastrous hammering from Iceland in Spain.
The Under 21s conceded six goals for just the third time in their 49-year history to a rampant Iceland in what was a catastrophic afternoon in Murcia for the young Scots, who also had Hearts kid Finlay
Pollock harshly sent off after he received a second yellow card for simulation. And it could even have been worse for Scotland with Hearts keeper Liam McFarlane making a couple of excellent first half saves.
The gap between a modest nation like Iceland and Scotland at this level was hugely alarming and Gemmill offered up no excuses after a horror show of an afternoon, which came four days after they beat Ireland 2-0.
He said: "It was a really embarrassing scoreline and it's disappointing to end the camp like this. The players need to quickly get up to speed with the level because you could see a clear gap between the teams.
"They were ahead of us in terms of preparation and they have got a very good team. It wasn't a good day. No, I definitely don't question the players' commitment - at this level there is no room for mistakes and there were too many mistakes today.
"It's about the players' development and actually in the long term it will help their development because there are a lot of new players playing at this level for the first time and they need to quickly improve.
"There are a lot of new players in the squad and we are trying to assess them and it's fair to say not many did well today, although Finlay Pollock was really good and has taken a step in the right direction in very difficult circumstances. It was 100 per cent not a red card and it was a penalty to Scotland.
"You have to remember there's not a lot of depth when it comes to young players in Scotland - these are the best young players in the country, although there are a few who are not here. These are the players we have to work with and we intend to help them.
"We have shown in the past we can compete with the best but we have to do it consistently and every error was punished there. It's part of the process. We are trying to work with new players, we are trying to implement some tactical stuff that has worked for us in the past. The players need to show it on the pitch."
Gemmill handed debuts to Hearts keeper Liam McFarlane, who is on loan at East Fife, Dundee United stopper Sam Cleall-Harding, Celtic's Lenny Agbaire who is on loan at Ayr United and Pollock, who is at Raith Rovers also on loan.
But Scotland found themselves three down at the break despite McFarlane making two outstanding saves in the first half. Horrifically slack passing caused Scotland's downfall with Stockport County striker Benony Andresson helping himself to a double and Brann's Eggert Gudmundsson also netting.
Gemmill rang the changes at half time with Admira Wacker's on loan Celtic defender Matthew Anderson, Hearts' Adam Forrester, Killie midfielder David Watson, Ross County's Dylan Smith, Celtic's Colby Donovan, Dunfermline stopper Jeremiah Mullen and Leeds United keeper Rory Mahady all coming on.
And the chances made an instant impact when a kick out from Mahady sent Scotland away and captain for the day Ryan One headed in Forrester's cross four minutes after the restart. But any thoughts of a comeback were extinguished in the 58th minute when Haukur Haraldsson swept in after a cutback from Andresson.
It went from bad to worse when Pollock was shown what looked like a very harsh second yellow card by fussy Spanish whistler Belando Munez for diving when he seemed to have been clipped in the area.
Viking Stavanger striker Hilmar Mikaelsson made it five with 12 minutes left with Scotland exposed on the counter-attack and Johannes Bjarnason drove in a sixth in the 82nd minute.