If I were a decision maker at the SFA, I would be talking to Graham Arnold about the coaching vacancy.
Truly an international โฝ๏ธ expert & has done what no Scot has done by getting his country ๐ฆ๐บ to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
Superb job with Iraq in qualifying too.
''Clarke is a footballing dinosaur. He got the Scotland job on the back of one good season with Kilmarnock where they won all their points at home by parking the bus on a horrendous plastic pitch. The fact that it looks like Scotland are going home at the first chance for a third major tournament hasn't deterred his employers from offering him yet another contract.
As Robertson, McGinn, McTominay and co. age out, there's a real feeling that for all they achieved in the dark blue, it could have been so much better at tournament level. Chastening defeats in the COVID delayed Euro 2020. An absolute hammering by a decent German side in 2024. No wins in either competition. Why was Clarke kept on, particularly after the latter humiliation?
More troubling is the narrative in the mainstream media. Tom English raving about how everything is rosy in the garden because the Scotland players looked sad after the game? Because two drunk Scotland fans looked happy after Morocco scored? Is this what we have become? A national happy with participation medals?
"Whit are we like?" is our identity. The clown royalty of international football. The glorification of mediocrity. Scotland fans happy to boo their own players because they play for certain clubs? We have to be better, push for more.
"No Scotland, no party" has been the anthem and after a generation of waiting, no-one grudges the fans their moment in the sun. But is the party all the matters now? And why does no one seem to want the party that really matters - when Scotland ditches it's heroic loser tag and steps forward into the latter stages of international tournaments? Barring an absolute miracle against Brazil or a crazy combination of other results it may not be something we see under the stewardship of Clarke.
How quickly the media forget how the grumpy boss disappeared after the embarrassment against Hungary in 2024. Scotland have had 7 shots on target in the last 5 games in major tournaments. Where's the party fuel to be had out of that? But those SFA blazers are happy to keep their cheap option in place for another crack at a major competition for reasons best known to themselves.
Sadly, barring an epoch-defining result that could justify Clarke's ongoing tenure, it's likely to be Scotland who are sent homeward to think again. And it could have been so much better.''
@alstra78 on missed chances for this Scotland side in his column.
Agree or disagree, you really should read the full column.
https://t.co/x12YMfLQDN
@EwenDCameron@The_Mafia_Boss A mean yous should be there Rangers and Celtic are both round about 13-17 points off their usual points tally for this part of the season ๐คฃ