Sebastien Pocognoli sought assurance over key concern before accepting Scotland job

The Belgian has signed a two-year contract to replace Steve Clarke and was unveiled in front of the media at Hampden on Monday morning. He quickly made the pledge that “I will be one of you” to the Tartan Army.

The only other Scotland national team manager who wasn't born in Scotland is Berti Vogts. Although he was considered a great coup when he arrived in 2002 to replace Craig Brown, the German’s reign was not considered a success in admittedly difficult circumstances.

He resigned following a 1-1 draw in Moldova, a result that was greeted with fury by the travelling members of the Tartan Army. Scotland dropped to a record low of 86th place in the FIFA rankings during his two-and-a-half-year reign.

Pocognoli arrives with the Scotland national team in a very different place and in an era when international managers are often not natives of the country they lead.

The 39-year-old Belgian nevertheless had some concerns, which he addressed with SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell and chief football officer Craig Mulholland. “I had some questions because I never go through a challenge without ticking all the boxes," he said. “For me one of the question marks was the fact I am a Belgian coach. Will the country embrace this? If I don’t think about that I would be an egotist and I am not like that.

“I got very positive feedback that the country maybe needs something different. In a very humble way I asked the question. For me that was the main question.”

It was pointed out to him that Vogts, his only foreign predecessor, had not proved a successful appointment in most people’s eyes. “It is a long time since Scotland had a foreign manager,” he said. “Sometimes a national team goes for a coach from that country. It means they can identify closely with the side. But I think it is all about your personality and how you deal with the challenge at the end of the day. I will be one of you and try to achieve the best I can.”

Despite reports suggesting former Belgium teammate Kevin Mirallas would join him as assistant Pocognoli cautioned that nothing had been agreed yet. He also revealed Steven Naismith, Clarke’s assistant, was still considering whether to stay on as a part of the coaching team or not.

“It is not decided yet,” he said. “We will go through that process this week and next week. It will be nice to meet everyone and put faces to names. I have not built my staff yet. But I want to keep some heritage and also bring people that I know.”

Scotland will head to La Manga in Spain for a warm weather camp before the opening game of the Pocognoli era against Slovenia in the Nations League in late September. The new manager has already spoken to captain Andy Robertson and will contact other senior players this week.

“I will go through that process this week,” he said. “I have spoken to Andy, the captain. It was very important to do that. We had a very informal conversation. It was very positive. Andy is a very passionate captain who is proud to represent his country. He will play with integrity as he has done for years. It is very important for me that I have that kind of captain around me. I hope that I can give him the chance to do it more and enjoy the sort of success he did before. As the weeks go on, step by step, I will create a relationship with the players.”