# Scotland's new coach faces early struggles

> Scotland's new coach Pocognoli struggles as team loses to Switzerland.
- Title: Scotland's new coach faces early struggles · BBC Sport
- Summary: Scotland's new coach Pocognoli struggles as team loses to Switzerland. Scotland's new coach Pocognoli loses to Switzerland with a red card and no goals.
- Keywords: sebastian pocognoli, scotland, switzerland, football, hampden, september, red card, north macedonia, sports, Scotland's, coach, faces
- Source: BBC Sport — https://bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cmrl6g9nw5lyo
- Published: 2026-09-29T22:30:20.756+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: sebastian pocognoli, scotland, switzerland, football, hampden, september, red card, north macedonia, sports
## Scotland fans welcome new coach
Scotland fans came to Hampden to welcome new coach Pocognoli but left with old team woes.

> 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
## Early game disaster
Scotland lost 0-3 to Switzerland with a red card in the first 10 minutes.

> 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
## Hendry sent off
Jack Hendry received a red card after a handball against Dan Ndoye.

> In the early minutes when Jack Hendry got himself sent off, we may as well have been back amid the meltdown of Miami
## Switzerland's strength
Switzerland beat Germany 4-3 in a friendly with a strong defense.

> Switzerland don't lose many games. Argentina had the devil's own job in seeing them off in extra-time at the World Cup
## Pocognoli's first game
Pocognoli made his debut but Scotland lost 0-3 to Switzerland.

> Pocognoli still awaits first goal after 10-man Scotland lose to Switzerland
## Hendry's mistake
Hendry grabbed Dan Ndoye in a handball that led to a red card.

> Hendry was in no position to make a legitimate challenge. He needed to accept his fate and hope against hope that his goalkeeper was going to save him
## Aftermath of red card
Scotland scored no goals after Hendry's red card with a 10-man team.

> Off Hendry went, in went the free-kick, and Scotland were a goal behind and a man down against the 14th best team in the world
## Next game in Skopje
Scotland face North Macedonia in a must-win game for goals.

> 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
## Key takeaway

Scotland's new coach Pocognoli loses to Switzerland with a red card and no goals.