Clarke forced to defend his record after nine-week silence

For a Trappist monk the reward for silence is an opening of the mind to the Holy Spirit, but all it got Steve Clarke was a line of edgy questions about whether he thought about quitting or regretted some dubious comments about an Argentine referee.
After 65 days the Scottish public finally got some words from the national manager for the first time since the lamentable campaign at Euro 2024. Clarke had not actually taken a vow of silence but whatever he had to say was not for public consumption. At last, at Hampden, he emerged in front of the microphones and defended himself.
The lack of a tournament debrief and reflection to appease a scunnered Tartan Army was always going to have a consequence. When Clarke would have wished to look only ahead to a fresh start, to the imminent Nations League ties with Poland and Portugal and the inclusion of new faces like Ryan Gauld and Ben Doak to the squad for those games, he was instead hauled back to Munich, Stuttgart and Frankfurt and the miserable nature of those 5-1 and 1-0 defeats to Germany and Hungary.
Wounds were reopened and thoughts strayed to the bleak statistics showing Scotland had been the worst for attempts on goal, worst for attempts on target, second worst for goals and worst by a distance for xG. In short, the worst team at the tournament.
One of the rewards from Clarke being a generally successful Scotland manager was promotion to League A in the Nations League (and, boy, didn’t the supporters enjoy replacing relegated England on the way?). But now for the tricky bit: facing better opponents. For a team on a barren run of one win in the last 12 fixtures, against Gibraltar, a run of half-a-dozen games against Poland, Portugal and Croatia feels about as desirable as a hole in the head. Shrewdly, the Scottish FA capitalised on the early-year feel-good factor by selling five-game packages for Hampden ahead of the Euros, meaning the attendance for the visit of Poland next Thursday should be close to a 52,000 full house.
There is growing disenchantment about deteriorating results, though, and no longer the warmth and electricity of a year ago when Spain and Norway were beaten in thrilling Euro 2024 qualifiers.
“There’s always going to be criticism when you don’t achieve your targets,” said Clarke. “If all the criticism comes to me, that’s fine. I can take it. I think you have to look that the build-up to the tournament wasn’t smooth. We lost a lot of players injured. I think what we’ve shown is that if we’re missing all key players, then we’re not as strong a side as we would be with those players on the team.”
At his lowest ebb had he considered stepping down from the job he took in 2019? “No, no.” And the main reason for staying? “My contract! Obviously I’ve always said I’d love to go to a World Cup with the country. I’ve got a group of players that are determined to go to a World Cup. In the summer this will be their last chance. It’ll certainly be my last chance.
“Everyone’s disappointed. We didn’t achieve what we wanted to achieve in the tournament. I think the biggest thing is you have to learn in football to move on. When I took the job it was over 20 years since we’ve been at a tournament, we’ve now been at two out of the last three, so we must have done something right.”
One thing he got wrong, he conceded, was his clumsy outburst against Facundo Tello for not awarding a penalty when Hungarian defender Willi Orban bundled down Stuart Armstrong. Clarke had brought up Tello’s nationality, saying he did not understand why he was referee there instead of in his own country. “I think what it was, was a disappointed, frustrated coach coming out straight after a match with a lot of emotion. I would say the same [about the standard of refereeing] but I’d be better at answering the question, by just saying no.”
Callum McGregor has said no to Clarke, the Celtic captain announcing his international retirement after the tournament. The manager said he had no reason to fear a domino effect given that Andy Robertson, Grant Hanley, Stuart Armstrong, Kenny McLean were all 30 or over and John McGinn will soon join them. “First of all, thanks to Callum for his input over the years, he’s been a key player for us, we’re disappointed to lose him, we’re disappointed for us that he’s retired. But I respect his decision. No one else is indicating retirement, no one else has spoken about it.”
It has always been evolution rather than revolution under Clarke and Gauld amounted to a slight changing of the guard. There has been a fans’ lobby for him to be included for most of the last decade. The talented little playmaker is now with Vancouver Whitecaps after spells at Dundee United and Vitoria Setubal in Portugal, where he was also loaned to other clubs. He was first called up in 2014 but he has never been capped and will turn 29 before the year is out. His play would give Scotland a spark of creativity, which has been absent, and he is also an option as an out-and-out forward. “He was in my thoughts before the tournament,” said Clarke. “He’s a creative player, he’s looked slightly different to the type of player that we’ve got. It’ll be nice to have a look at him up close and personal.”
The excitement over 18-year-old Liverpool winger Doak’s inclusion for Euro 2024 was quickly snuffed out when his fitness let him down and he had to withdraw. The 20-year-old right-back Max Johnston, who left Motherwell for Sturm Graz, last year, is also uncapped and in the new squad. Despite speculation that Connor Barron would be included the young Rangers midfielder was omitted.
Injuries ruled out Kieran Tierney, Aaron Hickey, Jack Hendry, Lewis Ferguson and Nathan Patterson although Lyndon Dykes, cruelly ruled out on the eve of the Euros, returned after starting the season for QPR. Armstrong has yet to find a club since being released by Southampton and he was also left out.
Goalkeepers Angus Gunn (Norwich City), Zander Clark (Hearts), Robby McCrorie (Kilmarnock)
Defenders Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Max Johnston (Sturm Graz), Grant Hanley (Norwich City), Ryan Porteous (Watford), Scott McKenna (Las Palmas), John Souttar (Rangers), Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Greg Taylor (Celtic)
Midfielders Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Ryan Gauld (Vancouver Whitecaps), Billy Gilmour (Brighton & Hove Albion), Kenny McLean (Norwich City), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Scott McTominay (Manchester United)
Forwards Ben Doak (Liverpool), James Forrest (Celtic), Lewis Morgan (New York Red Bulls), Lawrence Shankland (Hearts), Che Adams (Torino), Lyndon Dykes (QPR), Tommy Conway (Middlesbrough)