Steve Clarke has admitted it was the right time to step away as manager of the Scotland national team…
The Scotland boss stepped away from his position in the aftermath of a 3-0 defeat to Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil side and admitted that it was the correct timing for all involved, after he had take the country as far as possible in seven years.
Clarke deserves credit for his work at Scotland
The former Chelsea player turned the country’s fortunes around during that time period, taking us from perennial non-qualifiers for big tournaments since 1998, to three back-to-back, including a first World Cup for the new generation to get excited about.
That was the issue though, as the pre-tournament exitement never lived up to the hype or expectations, as Clarke’s negative style began to hamper us severely at various times.
Reflecting on his decision in his first interview since the news broke, Clarke said: “What I wanted to make sure was that when I felt it was time to step away, it was time to step away. Signing the contract before [the World Cup] was a case of trying to give a little bit of comfort to the players knowing that we could continue the journey.
The right time to step away
“I always had in my head that if we didn’t come out of the group, which is something that we’ve tried to do across three tournaments now, it was probably the right time to step away.
“In some respects it was easy because I already had in my head what I wanted to achieve as a head coach. I’d also ticked all the boxes. I wanted to go to a major tournament with my country. The first Euros [in 2021] was a little bit not the Euros because it was Covid affected.
“The second Euros [in 2024] was great. The tournament didn’t go as we wanted but getting to Germany was fantastic. My lifelong ambition was to do a World Cup with my country. I’ve done that, so not a bad time to step aside.”
“We played difficult opponents”
“Coming out for the Haiti game with the Scotland fans there in their thousands and my family in the stands was just the best moment,” he said, as reported by The Guardian. “The next two games were tough. We played difficult opponents. Morocco and Brazil, both of them can go really deep in the tournament and we competed with them, no matter what other people might say.
“We showed a lot of character and we played some good stuff”
“We showed a lot of character and we played some good stuff. We didn’t find the quality in the final third of the pitch but I could maybe say that across the whole seven years we’ve always been chasing and trying to find that quality in the final third of the pitch, and I hope my successor manages to do that,” a humble Clarke added.
Paul Gillespie
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