Ian Maxwell has denied that handing Steve Clarke a fresh four-year deal on the eve of the World Cup is a gamble.
The Scotland boss has put speculation over his future to bed by signing a new contract to take him through to 2030.
The first manager to lead the national team to three major tournaments, the 62-year-old was due to leave the post when the side’s interest in this summer’s tournament in North America and Mexico ends.
But, having indicated that he was more open to remaining in charge than previously, the Ayrshireman has struck a deal with the SFA to stay for another two campaigns.
Coming two weeks before Scotland face Haiti in Boston in the Group C opener, the timing of the announcement has been questioned by some supporters. But chief executive Maxwell believes tying down Clarke’s future was the right thing to do — no matter how this summer’s campaign unfolds.
‘How is it a gamble to give a guy who has taken us to three out of four major finals a new contract?’ Maxwell said.
Steve Clarke will lead Scotland all the way through Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup
‘That is a problem with football. Everybody is instant. They say, “That manager has lost a game, let’s sack him”. That is not how we work. We have always taken a longer-term, balanced view on it.
‘When you look how Steve has done since he came in, it’s pretty staggering for anyone to say that giving him a new contract is a gamble.
‘That’s the culture we live in. Regardless of what you do, some people will love it, and some will hate it.
‘It’s my job and the association’s job to make decisions that we think are the right ones for the long-term future of the men’s national team.
‘We are delighted. Steve is our most successful head coach and he’s got us to three out of four major tournaments. Why would extending his contract not be the obvious thing to do?’
Maxwell confirmed that there is no break clause in the new deal, meaning Clarke is in line to lead the side at Euro 2028, which Scotland will co-host, and World Cup 2030.
‘Every contract Steve has signed has been for four years,’ he stressed. ‘This is a very consistent length of contract for international managers.
Under Clarke’s guidance Scotland have now qualified for three of their last four major finals
‘Carlo Ancelotti, Jesse Marsch and Michael O’Neill have just done the same. It’s two cycles and it takes away any of the negativity and any of the instant, “He’s only got two years, it’s not gone well, let’s change it”.
‘We want him to be here for a long time and he wants that too. So, let’s set out the parameters and look at it as a long-term investment into each other.’
Although it’s taken until the eve of the World Cup for an agreement to be reached, Maxwell says there was always a willingness from both parties to shake hands.
‘It has never been a problem for me or Steve,’ he said. ‘Nobody understood the amount of work that had to be done from the moment we qualified to get to the point where we were ready for the World Cup.
‘That’s in terms of preparation and arranging friendlies, plus Steve has been to the States three or four times.
‘We sat down, we had the conversation and then it’s been an interesting few weeks in Scottish football. There has been a lot to deal with and we have had to juggle a lot.
‘The timing hasn’t been a problem for us, it was more of an external thing than internal.’
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell welcomes Clarke on his appointment to the job in 2019
Clarke’s renewed commitment comes in the week it was confirmed that former Rangers academy chief Craig Mulholland is to leave Nottingham Forest to become the SFA’s new chief football officer.
Cognisant of the fact that many of the current squad are nearing the end of their Scotland careers, Maxwell hopes the pair can work in tandem to ensure another wave of players is ready to step forward.
Asked if Clarke was the guy to fix the problem, Maxwell said: ‘Listen, he has to be pivotal in that role. We have Craig Mulholland starting as chief football officer in July which I think is a real coup for the organisation. Us being able to get someone from the English Premier League says a lot about where we are.
‘Craig has real experience and understanding and knowledge of Scottish football. He was at Rangers for a long time and in charge of youth development there and he is really passionate about continuing to develop players.
‘That is a problem we all need to try to fix. We talk about the co-operation agreements we introduced that are seeing more young players play more often.
‘What else do we have to do to look at that 18, 19, 20, 21 age group, to get them playing in first teams as regularly as we can?
Scotland reached a high point in the dramatic 4-2 qualifying win over Denmark at Hampden
‘The strategy we have launched is to 2035. The players who are going to be playing in 2035 are 15, 16, 17 now. They are the ones we need to be focusing on.
‘Because when you look at the squad we’ve got, Kenny McLean, Grant Hanley, John McGinn, Andy Robertson, Ryan Christie, Kieran Tierney they all played a lot of games at that 17, 18, 19, 20 age.
‘We’re not seeing that at the moment. Right now, there is not that number of players playing at a high enough level in Scottish football and that is a six or seven-year problem that we’ve got.
‘By that time they are going to be mid-20s and they are going to be the ones we are choosing from. So, how do we impact on them?
‘We’ve had a lot of conversations with Craig and a lot of conversations with Steve about them working closely together to make sure that we are developing that as much as we can.’
