Scotland don't have World Cup elephant in room and can't allow Little General to trample them

Clarke’s future has taken up a fair number of column inches since qualification for the World Cup was secured last November. The man himself said he wanted the decision made before heading off to America - and he got his wish.

This new deal takes Clarke to the end of the next World Cup in 2030. In between there are the European Championships, to be held on these shores. Clarity has now been afforded to all concerned ahead of Saturday’s friendly against Curacao.

This has been a good 48 hours or so for Clarke. He has also been inducted into the SFA’s hall of fame. “I only found out about it earlier this morning,” the head coach admitted on Friday, “so it’s obviously another honour, when you look at the people who are in that list. I just got my picture taken a little while ago.

Clarke, altered his stance from considering a potential return to club management to indicating he was open to staying on in the role. Some detractors will argue the SFA should have waited until after the World Cup to gauge performances after a failed Euro 2024. The blazers decided otherwise. They believe the best man is right in front of them.

Clarke will turn 66 at the end of his new deal but age is just a number in football management right now - as exampled by Martin O’Neill at Celtic and Roy Hodgson at Bristol City this season.

“Martin certainly raised the bar,” Clarke chuckled when probed on whether it could be his last job in management. “But I think Roy Hodgson saw Martin and raised it even further at 78! You never know what’s ahead of you. It would be great to think that in four years time everyone still wants me to stay and aren’t going: ‘Oh no, not him again’. I know you’re probably saying that after seven years! But after 11 it would be even worse. Let’s see what the future brings but you never know.”

Return of the ‘The Little General’

Up first, a farewell friendly in front of a packed Hampden crowd on Saturday at 1pm against World Cup debutants Curacao, who are under the stewardship of Dutch legend and former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat, at 78 another member of the veteran gang.

Scotland’s Group C opener is against Haiti. For many, a win over the Caribbean Island is a must with matches against recent AFCON finalists Morocco and five-time World Cup champions Brazil to follow. To give his players an idea of what type of opposition they are likely to be up against, Clarke will have been delighted that fellow CONCACAF outfit Curacao agreed to make the trip to Mount Florida.

The smallest nation to ever qualify for a World Cup are led by ‘The Little General’ Advocaat, who won five trophies during his stint in charge at Ibrox in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Back in Glasgow and hungry to taste more success, he will set a record as the oldest-ever coach to manage a team in the tournament's 96-year history.

Reaching the knockout stage for the first time shouldn’t be beyond this experienced Scotland squad, especially following FIFA's expansion of the tournament from 32 teams to 48. But momentum is everything, something Scotland seriously lacked in the build up to Euro 2024.

Scots must start building momentum

Defeats by the Netherlands and Northern Ireland were followed by a low-key win over Gibraltar and a draw at home to Finland. The performance in Germany didn’t get any better.

Failure to beat Japan and Ivory Coast during March’s friendly double-header has left Clarke and his players itching to get back into the Tartan Army’s good books before jetting off across the Atlantic, pushed on by a tailwind of positivity.

“A good performance, no injuries, and a win. That would be the ideal scenario,” Clarke stated when asked what he hopes to get out of Scotland’s Hampden farewell against a nation ranked 82nd in the world. “Sometimes you don’t get the ideal scenario that you want. I’ve said before, I’ve explained the difficulties of the preparation for this week.

“You’re asking me, do I want a performance and win? Of course I do. We’ll have a strong enough team no matter who we put on the pitch - that’s what we’ll be aiming to do.”

The mood around the national stadium will be one of excitement before kick-off. The Tartan Army will be out in force to give the players a rousing send-off. And for midfielder Ryan Christie, the World Cup presents the squad with an opportunity to right some wrongs from the disappointment of Euro 24.

“Preparation wise, not really,” the Bournemouth man responded when asked if there has been any alterations to how they are gearing up for the tournament. “I think the gaffer and the staff and everyone around it has been brilliant at every tournament we have gone to in terms of getting every single thing right in terms of the training camps and the lead up and what have you.

“Probably from the last Euros, most of us who were there still have that feeling of what could have been. We maybe let ourselves down a little bit. You need to carry that into this tournament. It is a bit of extra motivation and can add bite to our play. We are desperate to go over there, give a good account of ourselves, be successful and get out of the group.”