Steve Clarke deserves to be celebrated by Scotland now and not with hindsight

Not a man who enjoys hogging the limelight, his farewell interview to the nation came from a balcony at Scotland’s Grand Bohemian hotel in Charlotte via the Scottish FA. There was to be no warts-and-all press conference for those journalists who had stayed behind in North Carolina.

Clarke appeared relaxed and totally at ease with his decision to walk away from the Scotland head coach job as he discussed it all with the SFA’s head of communications Kenny Millar. “Just because that’s the feel,” was the typically short and matter-of-fact response from Clarke as to why he has stepped away.

It certainly is the sentiment for a growing number of Scotland supporters back home, who have made their feelings clear on what direction they want Scotland to go. SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell called some of the commentary “fairly hysterical” – there may be some mileage in that – and Clarke won’t have felt a whole lot of love for the reaction to this World Cup campaign.

Scotland finished third in a group containing two top-ten teams in Brazil and Morocco as well as Haiti. The latter were defeated 1-0 in the opening match and while Scotland largely competed with the Brazilians and the Moroccans, they lost 3-0 and 1-0 respectively. Scotland parred the course. This is what they were slated to do.

“Going into the tournament I knew the levels I wanted the team to reach and we didn’t quite get there,” Clarke said. Scotland had to find an extra gear to overhaul some of the best in international football and they didn’t manage it.

There are so many reasons for this. The team’s top players didn’t hit their stride. Scotland badly missed Billy Gilmour, whose pre-tournament injury robbed them of their highest-quality passer. A couple of penalty claims went against them versus Morocco. Basic, individual errors at the back. A lack of creativity. Some of Clarke’s decisions and tactics. And the fact that ultimately, Brazil and Morocco are not just better than Scotland, but miles better.

‘Hopefully they will give me some tickets’

It will fall on someone else to take responsibility for delivering Scotland’s holy grail: a place in the knockout stages of a major finals. The expectation levels will be really high at the European Championships in 2028, which are partly held at Hampden.

Three strikes and out for Clarke when it comes to tournament football with Euro 2020, 2024 and this World Cup. The most disappointing performance came in Germany at the Euros two years ago, when Scotland flopped badly in a group with Germany, Switzerland and Hungary.

Filing the World Cup in that bracket is unfair. For only the fifth time in Scotland’s history, they won a game on the global stage. In reality, the 1-0 victory over Haiti needed to be 6-0 to make Scotland one of the best third-placed teams. Out of the 48 nations in the tournament, 14 failed to even post a victory.

Clarke joked that he will hope to be sitting in Glasgow in two years’ time watching his successor lead Scotland to the last 16. “Hopefully they’ll give me some tickets,” he smiled.

The 62-year-old should be given the freedom of Hampden. There is a narrative that Clarke’s achievements will not properly be recognised until well after his stewardship. There is no reason why they can’t be celebrated now.

Clarke talked about how, seven years ago when he agreed to take on the Scotland job, it was a “poisoned chalice”. Scotland lived in a tournament wilderness. That isn’t the case now. Clarke deserves enormous credit – now – for the way he fostered a club spirit within the Scotland squad. Everybody turned up. Everybody wanted to play for him. There were magic moments – the play-off win in Serbia, beating Spain at Hampden, Norway in Oslo and then the coup de grace, that 4-2 win over Denmark to seal World Cup qualification.

Working with Andy Robertson, John McGinn and Scott McTominay – Scotland’s elite players – should be attractive to the new manager. As should the challenge of making them more attack-minded and in tune with what the majority of the Scottish public wants.

That final, most-desired point may be too fanciful. Against the argument of pragmatism and cautious football is a fairly strong rebuttal. Scotland do not have reasonable strikers and centre-halves at the top table of international football. Goalkeeper remains an area of real concern given that not one of the three in the World Cup squad is a starter for their clubs. To be properly competitive at major finals, those sectors of the team all need to function.

The night Scotland reached the World Cup, the Danes had Rasmus Hojlund of Napoli up front and Fulham’s Joachim Andersen – an English Premier League regular – in the centre of their defence. Those players would transform Scotland from where they are right now.

What Clarke’s successor cannot do is conjure up a “new signing” from thin air. The pipeline from the Scotland Under-21s has pushed forward midfielders Lennon Miller, Tyler Fletcher plus wingers Ben Gannon-Doak and Findlay Curtis. There remains a drought when it comes to goalkeepers, defenders and strikers. It goes way deeper than the head coach for player development.

Many Scotland fans want a sports car when the factory only has parts for an SUV. Clarke drove Scotland to tournaments and he now deserves his passenger seat as our most successful national team manager. The journey will still remain arduous for whoever is handed the keys next.