Only time will tell if Sebastien Pocognoli’s tenure as Scotland manager will be deemed a success. What we can already say for certain is that it will be different.

For those members of the Tartan Army who longed for change in the latter days of Steve Clarke’s reign, his successor delivered it in spades at Hampden on Tuesday.

Half the 28-man squad which will begin the Nations League campaign weren’t involved in the World Cup three months ago.

For reasons including injury, a loss of form and advancing years, no fewer than 12 players who went to the US have dropped out with 14 coming in.

Of those, there are seven uncapped players and some eye-catching recalls for the likes of Oli McBurnie.

Daily Mail Sport’s John McGarry was present for the Belgian’s first squad announcement and to hear what he had to say on the big issues. 

Hull City striker Oli McBurnie has come in from the cold with Scotland

McBurnie’s second coming

The last of the Hull striker’s 16 caps came five years ago. Despite scoring 19 goals for his club last season as they won promotion to the Premier League, Clarke overlooked him for the World Cup.

The perception was that part of that reason might have been a personality clash. The reality was that McBurnie had never scored for his country.

Either way, Pocognoli clearly believes that McBurnie is due another opportunity.

‘When I arrived, I did not have any fixed perception about what had happened in the past – I just needed to make my own perception,’ he explained.

‘I just wanted to analyse the players who can fit what I want to produce on the pitch. The first consideration was that Oli can fit what I want to produce. I called him and he was really excited to come back. He was a little bit emotional because it is a long time that he wanted to come back.

‘But he does not want to come back with revenge in mind or something like this. He wants to be here in the timeline right now and he is in good shape at Hull right now. He just wants to continue this with the Scotland national team.

‘We need personality, a fighter. We need to recognise the leaders on the pitch. If Andy (Robertson) is not there, if John (McGinn) is not there, it can happen.’

Brondby captain Luis Binks has been called up for Scotland

Who else is returning or has been called up for the first time?

Scott Bain, Kieron Bowie, Lennon Miller and James Wilson are all back in the hunt. Bain has benefited from the fact that there are four keepers in the squad – plus his fine form at Falkirk. Miller was the high-profile exclusion from the World Cup but has started the season well with Udinese.

Robbie Ure, now playing up front for Sevilla, leads the new wave. Former England youth cap Luis Binks plays his football in the heart of Brondby’s defence. Colby Donovan has seized his chance at Celtic and Josh McPake is in the form of his life at Hearts. Luke Graham is already a fixture at Stoke, likewise Stephen Welsh at Swansea.

Jon McCracken, now in goal for Bradford, has been in squads before but hasn’t been capped.

Who might be considered unfortunate to have been overlooked this time?

James Penrice has slotted in nicely at Rangers since moving on loan for the season from AEK Athens. He was outstanding in his side’s comfortable win over Celtic on Sunday.

It’s just unfortunate for him that Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, Josh Doig and Aaron Hickey can all play left-back / left-wing back.

Calvin Miller’s had a brilliant year at Falkirk then Hearts. He’d probably have made the cut if it wasn’t for team-mate McPake’s sparkling form.

Elliot Watt’s move from Motherwell to Samsunspor has probably worked against him.

Lyndon Dykes faces a fight to regain his place in the Scotland squad

Time out or time up?

Of the dozen who are missing from the party which went to the US, Craig Gordon has retired while Che Adams, Scott McTominay and Lawrence Shankland are injured and would otherwise have been selected.

Grant Hanley, Lyndon Dykes, Ross Stewart and Dom Hyam are now the wrong side of 30. Anthony Ralston, John Souttar and Tyler Fletcher need to get playing at club level again to even be part of a conversation. George Hirst needs to score more goals for Stoke.

There’s still a strong representation of the backbone of the Clarke era, though – Angus Gunn, Robertson, Ryan Christie, McGinn and Kenny McLean. Billy Gilmour is back in after cruelly missing out in the summer.

Style of play?

Clarke’s many critics accused him of playing football with the handbrake on. It feels like Pocognoli will represent quite a departure from that.

At Union Saint-Gilloise and Monaco, he wanted his teams to attack in greater numbers, play a high defensive line and to counter-press.

He will seek to do this with Scotland – not because he’s an ideologue but because he feels he has the players who can play that way successfully.

‘I am quite direct in my game offensively and defensively,’ said Pocognoli. ‘I try to be a little bit more on the front foot. We have quality in the team to play direct but with ID, to play through the ground, to explore the depth and be as quick as possible in the opposite box and as high as possible on the pitch. Sometimes you face a good team and you have to be lower, but that is not the main approach. It’s always to try to be dominant, especially at home.”

Pocognoli travelled to London to speak to Scotland captain Andy Robertson

The all-important buy-in

It’s only going to work, of course, if there’s a complete buy-in from the players – many of whom have been accustomed to different demands under Clarke.

Pocognoli travelled to London to speak with skipper Andy Robertson then made a point of phoning every player he’d selected.

‘He was really positive about what happened in the past and I expect my captain to be behind me – that doesn’t mean they aren’t also behind the previous staff,’ Pocognoli said.

‘They were committed and now they want to improve and continue to be successful. ‘It was a nice chat. Informal, but I also got information (about how to) to improve things. It wasn’t about what wasn’t working, I want to make my own perception.’

Maintain club atmosphere

Unlike previous Scotland managers, Clarke had few issues with call-offs. This had a lot to do with the ‘club’ atmosphere he fostered. It’s imperative that Pocognoli harnesses this.

‘The most important thing is to keep this atmosphere, but with expectation and demands,’ he said.

‘It’s a good group of players, that’s why they have been at tournaments over the last four years because of the cohesion, so I don’t want to change this.

‘I just want to focus on what we can produce on the pitch and to pair that with a winning mentality, and that for me is the most important thing.

‘The leaders are dealing well with the group, and now there are new faces, so this is also a test to see if the group will continue like this, but I think that they will do it.’