Scotland chief braced for life after Steve Clarke as he makes admission on potential next Scotland managers

Ian Maxwell believes it would be negligence to fail to plan for life after Steve Clarke with the Scotland manager preparing for what he has already admitted is likely to be his last qualifying campaign in charge.

The Scottish Football Association chief executive admits he has "half an eye on" who is out there ahead of an intense burst of six World Cup qualifying games this Autumn.

Clarke has already put the chances of him leaving his post after the next World Cup at “75 per cent" after being asked about his future earlier this year. Of course, if Scotland do not qualify for USA, Canada and Mexico then there’s every change the Scotland post will be vacant by the end of this year.

Steve Clarke is entering the final year of his contract as Scotland head coach. | SNS Group

The Scots are in a four-team group and their World Cup hopes hinge on ties against Denmark, Greece and Belarus. They could of course seal a play-off place, which would extent Clarke’s commitments until March next year at least.

Maxwell, who was speaking after the SFA held their agm at Hampden, insists he is being practical by keeping tabs on other candidates who might be suitable to succeed Clarke, who has just marked his sixth anniversary at the helm. Clarke has previously stressed that it would be the pinnacle of his career to secure Scotland’s place at a World Cup for the first time since 1998.

“There has been no conversation,” said Maxwell, when the subject of the manager’s future was put to him. “He wants to get us to the World Cup, and we're all just focusing on that. It's my job to have an eye on who's out there at all times, because managers leave for a variety of different reasons at a variety of different times, sometimes when you least expect it. So if I'm doing my job properly, there's always half an eye on who's available.”

Maxwell non-committal on long-term future

On whether the SFA might try to persuade Clarke to stay longer, whatever the outcome of the qualifying campaign, he was non-committal. “We'll have that conversation with Steve as and when the time comes,” he said. “But the focus has to be we want to get to the World Cup, so what do we need to do to make sure that we give everybody the best chance of doing that?

“We've got the players - you look at some of the guys in the squad, they'll be thinking this is their last chance at getting to a World Cup finals. Guys who have been to a couple of Euros and enjoyed that, and benefited from that, and have seen the impact that that has on them, the impact that it has on the country. Why would they not want to sign off on their international career by getting to a World Cup?”

Clarke’s future, he stressed, was not an issue. “That just doesn't come into the equation until after the qualifying group. We just see where we go. We'll have that conversation when the time is right, and who knows when that time will be right. But the focus has to be on getting to the USA, Mexico and Canada.”

More pressing is the need to appoint an assistant for Clarke, who confirmed after Monday’s 4-0 win over Liechtenstein that John Carver was leaving to take over as permanent manager of Polish side Lechia Gdansk.

Scotland kick-off their World Cup qualifying campaign against Denmark in Copenhagen in September before travelling to face Belarus at a neutral venue, which has still to be confirmed.