'Legend' Steve Clarke left Scotland players 'shellshocked and gutted'

Clarke signed a new four-year contract before heading into the tournament in the US only for that to be quickly ripped up by the SFA.

After seeing his side fail to progress past the group stage, the manager called his players together at the team’s base in Charlotte and hit them with a bombshell.

“He called a meeting to draw a line under the tournament we thought and, obviously, he came out with that and naturally everyone was a bit shellshocked and gutted, to be fair,” said Christie.

The Bournemouth midfielder was speaking after playing in the Genesis Scottish Open Pro-Am at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian along with Kenny Dalglish and Scott Brown.

The trio teamed up with former Open champion Shane Lowry on the front nine before having Tyrrell Hatton, another European Ryder Cup star, as their pro on the back nine.

“Yeah, I mean initially when he first told us, 100 per cent shocked especially after signing the new contract and stuff,” added Christie on Clarke, who had also taken Scotland to the last two European Championship finals. “But, you know, I think in his head obviously it was time that he'd done as much as he could.

“I still think there was a bit of unfair opinions of him for what he's done over the last few years. For us, it's been absolutely incredible. We've all absolutely loved playing under him. So, yeah, he'll be sorely missed.”

Scotland opened the World Cup campaign with a 1-0 win over Haiti only to then lose 1-0 to Morocco and 3-0 to Brazil. Hopes of progressing as one of the third-placed teams quickly disappeared as the team waited in Charlotte to discover their fate.

“Yeah, very, very emotional I think,” said Christie of the last meeting there with Clark. “But, listen, he's done so, so much for us and obviously goes down as a Scotland legend. And yeah, he'll be missed but we wish him all the best.”

Christie, who was the first member of the squad to speak about Clarke leaving, admitted Scotland’s early exit once again after a bitterly disappointing effort in the 2024 Euros in Germany had been “tough” to take.

“You come away from it and think what could have been similar to golf,” he said. “I'll be thinking of all the shots I missed. If only I'd made that putt. You know, it's such fine margins. You look at the Morocco game and if you get the penalty or you score a chance yeah, it just ended up being a bit too far for us to reach,

“But an incredible experience. It was so cool seeing all the fans out there and stuff and playing in those stadiums. It was something I'll never forget.”

Everton manager David Moyes has been linked with the job along with Roberto Martinez following his decision to step down as Portugal manager on the back of a quarter-final exit in the World Cup and Falkirk boss John McGlynn.

“We'll wait and see who comes in,” declared Christie, who reckoned that 75-year-old Dalglish had been the star of the show as the footballing trio were pipped by a shot in the pro-am. “All the boys, they finish these tournaments just hungry for more.

“You know, we were desperate to go to a World Cup. We’ve ticked that box and now we want to be able to go to a tournament and make an impression I think. It's the next step for our nation as a football team hopefully.”