Steve Clarke bids to complete remarkable redemption act on Doak-or-die night for Scots

Scotland's Ben Doak glances round against Croatia on Friday but there's no looking back for Scotland ahead of crunch game v Poland (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)Scotland's Ben Doak glances round against Croatia on Friday but there's no looking back for Scotland ahead of crunch game v Poland (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
Scotland's Ben Doak glances round against Croatia on Friday but there's no looking back for Scotland ahead of crunch game v Poland (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)
Scotland aiming to firmly banish Euro 2024 blues against Poland

A must-win game in central Europe against formidable but beatable opposition. It sounds familiar while at the same time triggering some trauma.

It was just short of 150 days ago that Scotland faced a similar scenario and came up horribly short. From Stuttgart to Warsaw isn’t a huge distance but Steve Clarke has come a long way since a sore night for Scotland against Hungary and such a damaging one as far as his own reputation was concerned.

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Scotland were on the brink of history. Looking at the team now, barely six months later, it seems slightly tired and somewhat dated. Angus Gunn? I think you’ll find Craig Gordon is the future…

As many as six starters from that painful night could well be in the line-up charged with taking on Poland tomorrow evening, with Scotland's top-tier Nations League future along with much else on the line. And yet there's the freshness Clarke promised too.

Along with Gordon, there's a new kid in town. As with the veteran goalkeeper, Ben Doak might have been in Stuttgart attempting to help Scotland claim the win they needed to progress to the knockout stage at Euro 2024. It wasn't Clarke's fault that the youngster was absent. Indeed, the manager had exhibited a degree of adventure to have included Ben Doak, then aged just over 18-and-a-half, in the original squad in the first place, while omitting the likes of Gordon.

Injury forced the teenager to pull out and while we will never know what might have happened had he been fit, he’s delivered some pointers in recent weeks. Friday night’s display against Croatia was the clearest indication yet that he’s rapidly developing into a game changer at the top level.

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Even June might have been too early for him, in retrospect. Doak has clearly benefited from a run of games at Middlesbrough, where he's been sent on loan from Liverpool this season. He has played from the start in Middlesbrough's last eight games. If he is selected by Clarke in the first XI tomorrow, something fans will hope – nay demand – given Scotland need to win, it will be his fourth international start in as many weeks.

Clarke has spoken often about protecting the player, to the extent that it has become a stick to beat the manager with. The sentiments are admirable but Michael Carrick, the Middlesbrough manager, is happily playing Doak week in, week out - as well as midweek in, midweek out - in a division that's often described as among the most physically punishing in the world, given the schedule.

Scotland don't play again until the Spring. Clarke can invite Doak to inflict some holy terror on Poland from the start in Warsaw and then transfer responsibility for resting him back to Carrick.

It’s a Do(ak)-or-die night for the Scots. Although they have their own problems, including the absence of injured striker Robert Lewandowski, Poland have been well warned about the winger, who turned Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol inside out on Friday night. They’ll have a plan.

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Clarke’s own strategy will hopefully differ from that night against Hungary, when Scotland were so lacking in adventure. With a two or even three-goal win probably required to reach the quarter-finals, Scotland will have to be proactive while making sure they give as little as possible away at the back. The two goals they scored against Poland in the first game would be good, without the three that went past Angus Gunn, the goalkeeper that night.

It’s likely that Scott McKenna will continue in place of Grant Hanley, having come on for the struggling Norwich City defender at half time against Croatia. The remarkable Gordon, meanwhile, will win his 79th cap on the back of two successive clean sheets, the first time he has achieved this feat since a run of three against San Marino, Moldova and Denmark in 2021, when he was a mere 38-years-old.

With John McGinn looking revitalised, Clarke has a decision to make in midfield. It could be that Kenny McLean makes way. There’s also a call to be made on who starts up front. It looked to be a little too early for Tommy Conway on Friday, although Scotland could have had Kenny Dalglish playing in that position and it might not have made much difference given Croatia’s dominance of the ball. Lyndon Dykes is odds-on to return to the starting line-up.

As for Clarke, there will still be some who are dismayed that he’s still in position to be making such decisions. The number of those willing him to depart is surely fewer than late in the evening on 24 June, when the drained manager was trying to explain why referees from South America shouldn’t be officiating at European competitions.

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A Swedish referee, Glenn Nyberg, will be in charge tonight, Clarke might be glad to learn. That controversy seems a long time ago now, as does the debate about whether the manager is well past his expiry date. This topic was still bubbling away when Clarke walked into Hampden near the end of August to announce his squad for Scotland’s opening Nations League games against Poland and Portugal.

There was anger that he’d not fronted up since that night in Stuttgart. A couple of heavy defeats in an elite group would finish Clarke off many predicted.

It’s not worked out that way of course. He’s changed the shape if not his tune. Scotland are arriving at the end of the international year on something approaching a high. If not exactly in clover – it’s still just one competitive win since victory over Cyprus last September – Clarke is no longer in danger of losing his job.

Tomorrow is of course the chance to really banish the Euros blues. As well as a Scotland win in Warsaw, help is required from Portugal against Croatia in Zagreb to secure a second-place finish together with the all-important Pot One status for World Cup qualifying.

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It’s maybe too much to hope for. Third place in the group, which is guaranteed in the event of a Scotland win irrespective of what happens elsewhere, is an achievement and means automatic relegation has been avoided.

Simply remaining in the equation on the final day courtesy of some vastly improved performances has granted Clarke a deserved mandate to attempt to lead Scotland to a World Cup.

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