Scotland manager riled by the refusal of Tuesday's visitors to supply a DVD of their match against Spain

Craig Levein was never one to shirk confrontation, either during his playing days or his time as a club manager. He appears to have adopted the same combative stance on the international scene.

Scotland's manager launched an outspoken attack both on what he perceived as cynical Lithuania tactics and poor refereeing in the immediate aftermath of Friday's scoreless draw in Kaunas. His words were laced with frustration after the Scots failed to turn territorial dominance into tangible reward. "The magnitude of that game just makes you a little bit more disappointed," he says.

Levein's latest target is the management of the Liechtenstein national team, who will visit Hampden Park on Euro 2012 qualifying business on Tuesday. He has been riled by Liechtenstein's refusal, as would normally be regarded a basic courtesy, to supply him with a DVD recording of their meeting with Spain on Friday. Liechtenstein's notable lack of match action before the 4-0 loss to the world champions means they are already enough of an unknown quantity for Levein to be slightly edgy, before this mini-international incident.

"The hardest team to look at so far have been Liechtenstein because they just haven't played," Levein says. "So the information from that Spain game is important.

"I was annoyed that the Liechtenstein FA contacted us and said they weren't going to send us the DVD. They contacted the Scottish FA last Wednesday to say that. We send our DVDs to other countries right away; it is a courtesy. So I was annoyed as soon as I heard that."

Levein's scouts have now managed to collect the recording in question, but only after assistance from the Spanish. When the Scotland manager finally witnesses the basic frailties of Tuesday's opponents, he will surely be convinced to adopt a rare, attacking style. Kris Boyd, James McFadden and Graham Dorrans are among those pushing for places in Levein's starting XI after sitting out the bruising encounter in Lithuania.

"Everyone has Liechtenstein as underdogs, rightly so, but there is always an element of risk," Levein says. "You know how the game works if we get to half-time and we haven't scored. Let's just say an early goal would be good. It goes without saying that when we go away from home, such as on Friday, we want to be solid and difficult to beat. When it comes to Tuesday, you bring guys like McFadden and Boyd into the equation."

Scott Brown will also continue to feature prominently in Levein's thoughts. The Celtic captain, only semi-fit, was substituted in Kaunas, having collected his latest booking and appearing in danger of receiving a red card thereafter. Such troubles have haunted the permanently animated Brown at club level but Levein is unperturbed.

"Scott is desperately keen to do well, he is a competitor," Levein says. "These guys are international football players; I can't control them. The law of averages says the more tackles you make, the more chance you have of being booked. I don't ever want him to lose his enthusiasm."

Manager John Toshack recalls 1976 to ease pain of Wales's opening defeat in qualifying for Euro 2012

There is more than a hint of desperation in John Toshack's voice as he tries to find something positive to say about Wales's qualifying campaign after it started with a defeat in Montenegro last night. "In 1976, which was the last time we qualified [for the later stages of a tournament], we lost the first game away to Austria but won the next five matches to win the group, so we've got that to cling on to," the Wales manager says.

The past, however, is no reliable guide to the future and not even the most optimistic Wales supporter – it has to be said there are very few of those around at the moment – could envisage this side collecting maximum points from their upcoming fixtures on the evidence of the 1-0 defeat in Podgorica. "Hugely disappointing," is Craig Bellamy's take on a result that prompts Toshack to admit the Bulgaria match in Cardiff next month has assumed "must-win" status.

Wales are unhappy Miodrag Dzudovic got away with an elbow that forced James Collins to leave the field in the second half with what has since been confirmed as a badly swollen eye rather than a fractured cheekbone, although Joe Ledley's description of the referee, Anastassios Kakos, as a "shambles" conveniently overlooks the real reasons for Montenegro's victory. Wales made mistakes in defence, looked woefully short in midfield and carried no threat going forward until the final 10 minutes.

What must be most galling for Toshack is that there is no obvious remedy for those shortcomings. Aaron Ramsey and Jack Collison, two talented youngsters whose presence in central midfield would make a huge difference, are long‑term absentees and will not be fit in time for the Bulgaria game on 8 October or the trip to Switzerland four days later, while there are limited options when it comes to trying to freshen things up in defence and up front.

All of which paints a bleak picture for Wales supporters and one that is particularly demoralising given that their team have played only 90 minutes of football in Group G. "There are teams that have lost the first game and recovered," Toshack says. "But the game against Bulgaria at home now, we've got to go out in a very determined fashion and see if we're good enough to be beat them. If we are, I still think the group will be open." It feels like a big if.

France's new manager problems mounted at the Stade de France, with injuries, suspensions and a fourth straight defeat

France continue to be European football's greatest source of merriment after a miserable Friday evening in Paris when Laurent Blanc's competitive bow as head coach ended in a 1-0 humiliation by Belarus in their opening Euro 2012 qualifier.

That was a fourth consecutive defeat for the national team, a sequence that has not happened since 1937, but this was hardly surprising given what France have offered since Thierry Henry's handball in the second leg of their World Cup play-off against the Republic of Ireland in November.

Now they face a difficult trip to Sarajevo to face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday. Lose that one and qualification for the finals will still be possible in a group that also includes Luxembourg, Romania and Albania, but it will hardly be the shiny new world demanded by fans following their shambolic World Cup in South Africa.

"We're in a difficult situation and we need to fight, which is exactly what we will do," Blanc said after the Belarus defeat. "When you're young, you make mistakes. Our problem is we cannot afford to make any."

Blanc's deeper problem is the malaise inherited from his predecessor, Raymond Domenech, and the squad the eccentric coach fell out with in comic manner in South Africa, which ended in a player strike and led to the suspensions of Jérémy Toulalan (one match), Patrice Evra (five), Franck Ribéry (three) and Nicolas Anelka (an international career-ending 18).

Having replaced Domenech, Blanc made a decision that may have done little for building a fresh team spirit: demanding that the 23-man World Cup squad be suspended for the friendly against Norway last month, which France lost.

Now Blanc also has injury and on-field-related suspensions to deal with ahead of Tuesday's match. Without the suspended playmaker Yoann Gourcuff and Arsenal's injured Samir Nasri against Belarus, the coach was forced to field an inexperienced team that entered to applause at the Stade de France but exited to jeers after Sergei Kislyak's 86th-minute winner.

The only established performers were Arsenal's Bacary Sagna, Abou Diaby and Gaël Clichy, and Florent Malouda of Chelsea, who led the team in Evra's absence. With only Toualan of the "World Cup four" available for selection against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Louis Saha and fellow forward Loïc Rémy injured against Belarus, Blanc is facing a stiff test of his managerial smarts.

"Nothing works in our favour at the moment with all those injuries: it's difficult to find anything positive in a defeat but there were things in our game that I liked," he said.

But after the insipid 90 minutes that had the Stade de France howling at their team, Yuri Zhevnov, the Belarus captain and goalkeeper, gave a more worrying verdict: "I didn't have so much work to do. This is a new beginning for the French team, and our coach kept telling us they might be vulnerable. He was right."

Can things get any worse for Southampton? Is this just a blip for Torquay, or will they bounce back? And are Barnet on the rise?

League One

• All eyes were on Southampton today after the peculiar sacking of their manager, Alan Pardew, this week, the latest strange move by a club that last month banned photographers from their stadium. Southampton won Pardew's final game in charge and unsurprisingly lost their first without him, thumped 3-0 at home by Swindon in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Since Pardew's sacking, they've been linked with Phil Brown and Paul Hart but the vacancy has not been filled, with Dean Wilkins installed as caretaker manager for now. Today's home game against Rochdale offered Southampton an immediate opportunity for recovery, but the damage to the team's morale appears to be done: they lost 2-0. Southampton are being made to regret their folly - just how foolish must they be feeling now?

• Sheffield Wednesday aren't playing until tomorrow, so there was a chance for the chasing pack to put some pressure on the league leaders. But only Colchester were able to take advantage, Andy Bond's late winner seeing off Walsall, while Peterborough lost to Tranmere and Carlisle and Oldham only managed draws against Swindon and Bristol Rovers.

• Hartlepool's hopes of getting their season back on track after their humiliation at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday last week were dashed by MK Dons. The home side, who signed Dietmar Hamann during the summer, their answer to Edgar Davids, secured the points thanks to Lewis Guy's late goal. Despite an even later red card for Dean Lewington, Hartlepool were unable to trouble the home side, and after a decent start to the season, they've ever-so-slightly hit the rocks.

• It was an east London derby in League One, as Dagenham & Redbridge played host to Leyton Orient. Both sides have made stuttering starts, but Romain Vincelot's double earned the Daggers both their first win of the season and local bragging rights.

League Two

• Last week, Torquay conceded a goal for the first time in 998 minutes. Today it took just 15 minutes for their defence to crack against Southend. Anthony Grant put the home side in front, and after 43 minutes Torquay conceded again, Josh Simpson making it 2-0 to Southend. Chris Zebroski scored a consolation, but it was too late. Before last weekend Torquay topped the table with a 100% record, having not conceded a goal this season. In the space of a week, they've lost the lot. But they'll recover. Right?

• With Torquay losing, top spot was up for grabs and Shrewsbury made sure they didn't disappoint. With an unbeaten record of their own to protect, they beat Rotherham 1-0 and lead League Two by a point. And just below the top two, Chesterfield are keeping up the pressure thanks to a 2-1 victory over Lincoln.

• Let us turn our attention to an absolute humdinger of a game at Gigg Lane, where Bury and Gillingham played out a veritable classic. If the Premier League is all about the one-sided 6-0 thrashing, then the Football League is home to the lurching, topsy-turvy, emotionally draining, all-inclusive defensive nightmare, as Gillingham scored four only for Bury to score five. Plenty of work to be done on both training grounds this week then.

• Spare a thought for Barnet who finally picked up their first win of the season after five games, showing commendable character to fight back after the concession of an early goal against high-flying Cheltenham and haul themselves off the bottom and up to the heady heights of 18th. Are they finally on the rise?

• Barnet's victory was bad news for Macclesfield and Morecambe though. Both lost - Macclesfield succumbing to Stockport in a local derby - both are perched on two points, and there are 90 Football League clubs above them. Only goal difference means Morecambe are definitively bottom, but when it comes to such matters, who's really keeping count?

• 35,631 fans come to Anfield to show support
• All proceeds to go to local charities

Jamie Carragher marked his big day with a goal for each side as his Liverpool team rolled back the years in beating an Everton XI in his testimonial at Anfield.

The 32-year-old defender scored from the spot in the first half for the Reds before converting a penalty own-goal for the club he supported as a boy after the break.

The England captain, Steven Gerrard, played the opening 10 minutes of the match, before being replaced.

After Luis Garcia's second-minute opener the veteran defender Carragher claimed the spotlight as he celebrated 14 years' professional service with the Reds. The teams looked one-sided as Carragher was able to call on favours from current team-mates Gerrard and Joe Cole as well as former club-mates Michael Owen, Luis García, Emile Heskey, Danny Murphy and Jerzy Dudek.

But if you were being charitable to Everton, managed by David Moyes, you could say they did not want to spoil the occasion.

Gerrard, given dispensation by Fabio Capello after featuring in England's 4-0 victory over Bulgaria last night, played the opening 10 minutes before being replaced by Murphy. On the bench the former Reds manager Gérard Houllier warmed up for a possible Premier League return with Aston Villa by sitting alongside the current Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson.

The Manchester United striker Owen assumed the role of pantomime villain with a mixed chorus of boos and cheers from the crowd of 35,631 greeting his every touch. He played up to his new status when his shot struck Jose Baxter's arm for the 44th-minute penalty, pretending to lay claim to the spot-kick before allowing Carragher to take two steps and roll the ball past Iain Turner.

The referee Mark Halsey had previously provided the comedy moment when he delivered a slap around the head to Lee Carsley after booking the Everton midfielder for theatrically kicking the ball away.

Luis García's goal after being set up by Cole and Heskey on the right of the penalty area was a sign of things to come. Owen had a shot tipped around the post, Luis García sidefooted wide Cole's cross, Heskey – as he often did in a Liverpool shirt – squandered a great chance when he skewed well off target after being put through and Murphy also rolled a shot wide.

In the second half Cole volleyed in his first goal at Anfield – having missed a penalty at the ground in the Europa League qualifier against Rabotnicki – from Ryan Babel's cross and the reserve team striker Nathan Eccleston fired home.

In between Carragher fouled James Vaughan and saved the Everton player the trouble by shooting past Brad Jones, making his first appearance in a Liverpool shirt after signing last month from Middlesbrough. Carragher is hoping to raise £1m for his 23 Foundation from this game and a gala dinner, with proceeds going to local groups and charities.