Steve Clarke has shown a useful knack of assisting the Scottish Football Association’s public relations. Progression to the delayed Euro 2020 finals ended a tale of woe that stretched back to 1998. A draw with Ukraine last September sealed qualification to the top tier of the Nations League. The incessantly negative din that accompanies matters relating to Scottish football has occasionally abated thanks to the work of Clarke and his team. A functioning national side masks all manner of administrative sins.
This theme continued as Scotland prepared to open their Euro 2024 campaign with a visit from Cyprus. Clarke informed his squad on Friday morning that he had extended his contract until the World Cup in 2026. “We are all delighted,” said the captain, Andy Robertson. “Since the manager came in, there has been a much more positive feeling around the team. We believe under this manager we can get better.”
This came at the end of a week in which the Scottish FA has been berated for the ongoing mess that is VAR implementation. John Carver, Clarke’s assistant, turned heads by claiming the training base Scotland had recently used in Edinburgh represented a “safety hazard.” Scottish fans reacted with understandable fury after a replica shirt was put on sale for £90, meaning punters were unsure whether to wear said jerseys or frame them. As 50,000 prepare to descend on Hampden Park, they will be buoyed by managerial continuity.
“The next improvements are going to be more difficult to make,” said Clarke. “I don’t want us to go to 2024 and that’s it. We have to think of 2026, 2028. You want to enter every campaign thinking you can qualify.” If Clarke was devoid of that belief, he would not have signed on the dotted line.
Clarke’s class of 2023 is unrecognisable from what he inherited in 2019. Just seven members of the present squad were around for the coach’s first game in charge, poetically also against Cyprus. Oliver Burke notched a late winner, while Eamonn Brophy led the attack in front of little over 30,000 spectators.
If those were far more fraught times, Clarke may need his strongest powers yet to buck a Scotland trend and start the 2024 campaign strongly. The stability and collective experience of this squad are undoubted strengths but the manager has cause to be privately perturbed by the lack of football being played by key personnel. Scotland must hope the international environment boosts energy and attitude levels of players who have endured frustrating club spells. With Spain lying in wait on Tuesday, Clarke has a tricky balancing act.
The shortage of game time for Scott McTominay and Kieran Tierney is likely to see them prised from Manchester United and Arsenal respectively in the summer. Nathan Patterson has failed to make any appreciable impact at Everton despite a much publicised move from Rangers. Ryan Christie and Stuart Armstrong are unable to command routine starting berths in the relegation scraps of Bournemouth and Southampton. Ryan Fraser, whom on basis of talent alone should be within the Scotland scene, has missed out on the squad altogether owing to banishment at Newcastle.
Billy Gilmour’s scenario is even more perplexing. The midfielder’s outstanding showing at Wembley during the scoreless draw of June 2021 pointed towards an exciting future. He has subsequently endured an ill-fated loan at Norwich City and move from Chelsea to Brighton immediately before the man who may well have afforded him extended opportunity at Stamford Bridge, Graham Potter, switched in the opposite direction. Brighton’s terrific Premier League form of this season has made it even tougher for the 21-year-old, but the blunt reality is Gilmour badly needs to kick-start his career.
Che Adams remains Clarke’s best forward yet too often lacks a potent touch. It may be unfair to focus on Lyndon Dykes’s club record – he has stepped forward for Scotland umpteen times before – but one domestic goal since October represents a grim statistic. Jacob Brown is prolific by comparison, with five for Stoke City since the start of September. Central defence, a perennial problem position for Scotland, has been hampered further by injuries and the fact Liam Cooper last played for Leeds on 5 February.
Clarke appears to be agonising over whether to select Zander Clark or Angus Gunn as the replacement for the injured Craig Gordon. Both are reasonable alternatives. John McGinn’s restoration to the Aston Villa side is a plus, as is Callum McGregor’s consistently high level of performance with Celtic. Lewis Ferguson’s showings for Bologna are earning rave reviews.
“It’s imperative that we keep the fans and the nation engaged and entertained,” said Clarke. “That is something we are all committed to achieving through winning games and qualifying for more major tournaments, starting with Germany next year.”
Nobody should doubt Clarke’s ambition. The scale of the task may just be greater than has been widely appreciated.
