To borrow an old line from Mike Tyson, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face. Just eight minutes into his first match in charge at Hampden, Sebastien Pocognoli took one flush on the chin.Whatever designs Scotland’s new head coach may have had on causing an upset against Switzerland in this Nations League clash, it all went to pot in double-quick time.A moment of utter madness from Jack Hendry, with a crude and brainless last-man foul on Switzerland striker Dan Ndoye, saw Pocognoli’s side reduced to ten men.Switzerland boss Murat Yakin had missed his pre-match media conference on Monday due to hearing problems caused by cabin pressure on the flight into Glasgow.Hendry looked like he was towing a Boeing 747 in his efforts to run back and chase the jet-heeled Ndoye as he raced through on goal.The fact that Switzerland defender Ricardo Rodriguez, a free-kick expert throughout his career, then curled one into the top corner from the subsequent set-piece poured salt into Scottish wounds. Elvedi slides home the second goal at the near post in Switzerland’s 3-0 victory at Hampden Ricardo Rodriguez (far left) celebrates his free-kick opener against ScotlandUp against a slick and stylish Swiss side, this was always likely to be a tough assignment even with 11 players on the field.Playing 82 minutes with a numerical disadvantage? Mission impossible. Scotland deserve credit for sticking to the task and not just capitulating after that horror start.They briefly threatened an equaliser at times midway through the first half and the Hampden crowd were clearly appreciative of the effort.But, ultimately, this was a damp squib. On what was supposed to be a thunderous Hampden bow for Pocognoli and his new-look Scots, it turned into a training exercise for Switzerland.As such, it was impossible to properly gauge Pocognoli and the performance from his team. They spent the majority of the night operating with one hand tied behind their back.They must now lick their wounds and dust themselves down ahead of a trip to face North Macedonia in Skopje on Saturday night.A total of 123 days had passed since Scotland set sail for the World Cup with a 4-1 victory over Curacao in their Hampden send-off.It doesn’t sound all that long ago when you put it like that. But the scale of the changes — both in terms of the players and a new head coach — have been significant.As they made their way back to Mount Florida, the Tartan Army were probably still familiarising themselves with some of the new faces in Pocognoli’s squad.Luis Binks was the latest player to be handed a debut, the Brondby captain coming in to replace Stephen Welsh in central defence.That was one of three changes made by Pocognoli from the 0-0 draw away in Slovenia last Saturday, with Nathan Patterson and Kieron Bowie also coming in to replace Aaron Hickey and Robbie Ure. Jack Hendry was given his marching orders early on and left Scotland with a mountain to climbThe first half in Ljubljana had been an eyesore, but Scotland were vastly improved in a dominant second half. On a different day, they could — and perhaps *should* — have won by two or three goals.This was always likely to be a far stiffer test. Over the past 20 years or so, Switzerland have been a model of consistency in international football.Back in the summer, they pushed Argentina all the way to extra-time in the quarter-finals of the World Cup and were unlucky to lose in the end.Even without their captain Granit Xhaka, who withdrew from the squad due to an investigation into a fake Covid vaccine certificate, they were still expected to be formidable opposition.The Swiss had opened their Nations League campaign with an emphatic 3-0 win over North Macedonia in Skopje, with Zeki Amdouni scoring two of their three goals.Scotland were clearly intent on pressing the Swiss high up the pitch in the early stages. Picking up where he left off in Ljubljana, Billy Gilmour glided past a couple of red jerseys and fed a through ball for Bowie to chase.The big striker outmuscled Leeds United defender Nico Elvedi and fired the ball across the face of goal before the visitors managed to clear the danger.But the air of optimism around Hampden was soon shattered by a rapier-like attack from Switzerland right through the centre of the pitch that would ultimately see the home side reduced to ten men.After a neat combination in midfield, the ball was played through for Ndoye to chase. One-on-one in a foot race with Hendry, there was only ever likely to be one winner. Zeki Amdouni fires home the third goal as Switzerland cruised to a comfortable successNdoye was racing clear only to be clumsily hauled down just as he could see the whites of Angus Gunn’s eyes and was about to pull the trigger.Serbian referee Nenad Minakovic initially gave a penalty-kick and booked Hendry. The fact he was blatantly the last man was offset by the double jeopardy law.But when TV replays showed that the contact had initially started outside the box? Hendry was a dead man walking.Red card. All day long and twice on Sundays. As he jogged off the field and headed for the tunnel, there was no acknowledgement from Pocognoli.It was thoroughly dim-witted from Hendry. What on earth was he thinking? The smart play would have been either to let Ndoye shoot and potentially score, or make sure the contact was inside the box.Either way, Scotland would have kept 11 men on the pitch in their efforts to mount a comeback. When Ricardo Rodriguez then curled a peach of a free-kick into Gunn’s top corner, it was the ultimate double whammy.Open the touchline, Pocognoli urgently tried to reshuffle the pack. Off came Bowie and on came Welsh. It became a sort of 5-3-1 shape.Gilmour was still having some excellent moments, drifting away from another challenge before firing the ball out wide to Andy Robertson.Robertson’s low ball in was intended for Oli McBurnie, only for Elvedi to intervene at the near post. McBurnie also tangled with Remo Freuler on the edge of the box but threw himself to the ground too easily.Against all the odds, another promising Scotland attack was undone by a clumsy touch from Robertson. Nonetheless, the Tartan Army roared their approval. There was still a game on here.At the other end, Gunn made a good low save one-handed to deny Ndoye after a clever dummy from Amdouni on the edge of the box. It became a bruising night for Scotland boss Sebastien Pocognoli in the Hampden dugoutSwitzerland just had so much class and control, capable of flicking a switch and moving up through the gears at any moment.The referee was needlessly picky at times and Pocognoli, decked out in a dark suit and shirt à la Diego Simeone, was booked towards the end of the first half for some fiery protestations on the touchline.The mood of the new Scotland head coach wouldn’t have improved much when Switzerland doubled their lead just 10 minutes after the break, Elvedi converting an Ndoye cross from close range.For Scotland, the final half-hour or so became an exercise in damage limitation. The game was gone. Switzerland continued to threaten, with Ndoye and Amdouni again going close.The outstanding Amdouni rifled one into the top corner for 3-0 with just under ten minutes left to play. In the end, Scotland were soundly beaten.That may well have been the outcome had they kept 11 players on the pitch for 90 minutes. We’ll never know. But this was a sobering night.