As Gordon Strachan rallies against the criticism falling his way one quote from last night stands out more than most.
During his playing career Strachan was always the wee guy with that element clouding his judgement as Scotland manager.
Amid the predictable excuses brought up during the post match press conference the Scotland boss decided to highlight the genetics factor.
He said: “Genetically, we have to work at things. Don’t know if we can get big women and men together, and see what we can do. It is a problem for us because we have to fight harder for every ball and jump higher.”
Scotland’s best performer last night, and throughout the campaign was Leigh Griffiths.
According to the UEFA website he stands at 173cm which is just under 5 ft 7 in old money.
With four goals in the qualifying campaign Griffiths put fresh life into Scotland’s floundering campaign.
Less than a year ago the measuring tape was keeping the Celtic striker out of the Scotland side.
Strachan told the Daily Record: “People can argue that toss and debate it. But that is fact. You need to have a certain amount of height in international football teams to defend set plays. It’s not just Leigh Griffiths. You’ve got to try to get the balance. I could pick a huge team but there would be a problem passing the ball.”
Soon afterwards Griffiths changed his twitter name to Shorty.
Scotland won’t play another competitive game until next September, by that time Shorty is likely to have gone through the 100 goals mark with Celtic and scored against more Champions League defenders that fit Strachan’s generic argument.