2026-08-18 08:55:56
Sebastien Pocognoli is confident that he will be a “good fit” for the Scotland national team.
The Belgian coach has been appointed as the new coach of the Tartan Army and claims that he shares a similar “passion” for the game as Scottish supporters.
Pocognoli told reporters: “For me it’s an exciting challenge because I never go through a challenge where I can’t feel the connection. Scotland is a passionate country for football, I’m passionate.
“When I had the first contact, it’s not like you pick up the phone and you think, ‘Hmmm’. I was straight away very curious and interested because I always feel something special for the passion of Scottish football. It’s very famous in Belgium, this aspect.
“It’s a big part of my decision because I think it can make a good fit with what I want to produce on the pitch and what the supporters want.”
Pocognoli explained that he plans to build on the work done by his predecessor Steve Clarke whilst taking an approach that will connect with supporters.
He said: “I want to keep a strong foundation that was built in the past. When you think about Scotland, it’s passionate players who fight together, who defend together, who want to help their team-mates. That was the DNA from the team in recent years.
“What I will try to do, and we have the capacity to do this, is to maybe defend from the front, be a little bit more aggressive going forward and try to have a good football moment on the pitch.
“I’m quite direct in terms of football and try to be aggressive and try to dominate. I think all the coaches in modern football try to do this and say that, but the reality is that you have to do it.
“If you watch my two previous teams, you can see a relation between what I say and what I hope I can produce in a very short period of time.
“It doesn’t matter where you play or who you are, you have to show the desire and fit the philosophy that I want to bring on the pitch. But we have all the quality already in the squad to do this.”
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