As he prepares to embark on Scotland’s first World Cup campaign in 28 years, Steve Clarke will fly out to America with a shiny new four-year contract tucked away in his hand luggage.
Already the country’s most successful manager in history after taking Scotland to three major tournaments, there will be some who view the SFA’s decision to hand him a new deal as the correct course of action.
By leading the nation out of the international wilderness and reaching three major finals out of four, the pro-Clarke crowd will argue that a new contract is a fitting reward for those achievements.
There will also be those who point to the fact that Scotland have stunk the place out in those two previous appearances in the Euros, and that giving him a new deal on the eve of a World Cup is a tad hasty.
When the news broke on Thursday, SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell hit back at suggestions that this represents a risky gamble.
Maxwell said that he found it ‘pretty staggering’ that some people would take that view, pointing to Clarke’s overall record throughout his seven years in charge.
Steve Clarke has been inducted into the SFA Hall of Fame as well as landing a new contract
Clarke’s legacy is already secure. He will go down as one of Scotland’s greatest managers of all time. Nobody of a sound mind would really dispute that.
But, given what has transpired with Scotland over the past two major tournaments, why have the SFA chosen to push the button on this right now?
A more considered approach would have been for the SFA to keep their powder dry and make a judgment based on how Scotland perform in the World Cup.
The argument about the uncertainty over Clarke’s future being a distraction during the tournament doesn’t really wash. Does anyone seriously think that Andy Robertson, John McGinn and Co would be giving much thought to the manager’s future as Scotland prepare to face Haiti, Morocco or Brazil? Of course they wouldn’t.
Ultimately, this is a decision which feels rash and needless. By handing him a new deal, the SFA have divorced Clarke from any accountability in the World Cup, regardless of how Scotland perform.
They have sent a very clear message that simply qualifying for tournaments is enough. That how we actually perform once we’re there doesn’t really matter.
Clarke was in good spirits as he met up with Napoli midfielder Billy Gilmour in training
That’s a small-time mentality that lacks ambition. They have made Clarke bulletproof at a time when his performance as manager should be under the most meaningful scrutiny.
Rather than banging on about the fact he took us to the last couple of Euros, look at how we fared in those tournaments. We were awful.
Clarke has yet to win a match at a major tournament. In six games, Scotland have taken two draws and suffered four defeats.
The performances have, by and large, been abysmal. Has anyone forgotten the Hungary game in the last Euros a couple of years ago? Clarke was lucky not to be sacked on the back of that. An overwhelming majority of supporters were calling for him to go.
To his credit, he turned it around from there in a way that few thought possible. But to give him four more years before we’ve kicked a ball this summer? Of course it’s a gamble.
If Scotland were to go to the World Cup, give a good account of themselves and reach the knockout stages? Yeah, absolutely, Clarke would have earned a new deal.
But if they go to America and stink the place out all over again, fans will be calling for his head. That’s just how it works. The decision to hand him this new deal will have aged like milk.
Scotland stunk the place out when losing to Hungary at the 2024 European Championships
Given his loyalty to certain players, it will be most interesting to see how Clarke freshens up the squad if, indeed, he does see out the duration of this new deal until 2030.
Stalwarts like Robertson, McGinn, and Grant Hanley are the other side of 30. There are very few young goalkeepers or centre-backs breaking through. These are issues which will need to be addressed.
Asked yesterday about the evolution of the squad, Clarke replied: ‘It’s definitely a fresh challenge.
‘In terms of saying the squad might have evolved, the squad has definitely evolved from when I first took over.
‘I keep the very first squad that I ever worked with, the first one I ever picked, on my laptop just as a reminder of how far we’ve come.
‘It’s something that I know we’re going to have to change because between the first tournament and the second tournament, there was nine or ten changes.
‘Between Euro 2024 and now, it’s another nine or ten changes in the squad. So there is a natural evolution.
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‘I think sometimes people want revolution too quickly. I think we’ve shown it with the stability we’ve had over the last seven years that it’s a pretty good way to work.’
Clarke and his players will take on Curacao this afternoon in what should be a thunderous send-off in front of an expected crowd of around 45,000 at Hampden.
Led by former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat, Curacao are the smallest nation ever to qualify for a World Cup and should represent similar opposition to Haiti, the team who Scotland face in their opening match.
Clarke and his players will then fly to America tomorrow morning, before one more warm-up match against Bolivia in New Jersey next weekend.
Some players were afforded a short break after they finished the season with their clubs and have since been drip-fed back into the Scotland squad over the past week.
‘It has been a strange week,’ said Clarke, who was yesterday inducted into the SFA’s Hall of Fame. ‘We started the week with 14 players on Tuesday, drip fed another seven in on Thursday and another five will join us tonight [Friday]. But we look forward to the game.
‘The big thing is to have no injuries, that is crucial. I have a lot of players who need minutes on the pitch, the team will be a little bit different.
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‘A good performance and a win would be fantastic. We are looking forward to it.’
Clarke and his players will leave for America knowing that they have the full backing of the whole country. He spoke yesterday about already having one eye on the next World Cup on the back of signing his new deal.
That is still a long way off. It’ll feel even further away if things go wrong over these next few weeks.
Clarke is one of Scotland’s greatest managers, but the SFA have jumped the gun by renewing his contract on the eve of a World Cup.
As a nation, we can only hope that Maxwell and Co are not left wiping egg from their face in a few weeks’ time.
