Steve Clarke's Scotland holiday posers: crisis point, new appointment required and one big positive

Manager has much to ponder ahead of World Cup campaign

In a year’s time, will Scotland be days away from making a return to the World Cup finals under restored national hero Steve Clarke? Or will they already be on some grim consolation tour of South America with a development squad under a caretaker manager after the withdrawal of several star players citing niggling tweaks and strains?

The latter is too awful to contemplate. The former, meanwhile, represents a delirious fever dream to some, who fear Scotland have already peaked under Clarke. Their concerns will have been reinforced by the most recent international window where the Scots flopped badly against Iceland before winning a meaningless outing in the Alps against Liechtenstein at a canter.

Scotland's next assignment under Steve Clarke will be the World Cup qualifiers in September. | SNS Group

For others, though, some context ought to be applied. The Iceland result was a patently false one brought about by some very unfortunate circumstances. Already deprived of recent No 1 Craig Gordon, Clarke lost two goalkeepers between the warm-up and third minute of the match. Still, Clarke knows improvement is required. He admitted so himself in an interview following Monday’s win in Vaduz. There were no goalkeeping issues in March and Greece – who are of course in Scotland’s World Cup group - still swept their hosts aside at Hampden.

There is much to occupy the manager’s thoughts as he stretches out his toes in the sand in Torremolinos or wherever it is he is choosing to spend his summer break and contemplates what's sitting in his in-tray.

How to solve a problem like Scottish goalkeepers?

Jimmy Greaves would have a ball given Scotland’s current predicament: “What about those Jocko goalkeepers, then? Still up there giving us a laugh!” In a way, perhaps Friday’s goalkeeping horror show, with poor Cieran Slicker cast as the fall guy, might prove a good thing in the long run - although no one is expecting Slicker to agree. Scotland's neglect in this area has been exposed in a pitiless light.

The problem has been flagged up enough times, but it’s now reached crisis point. Where are Scottish goalkeepers? Anyone aged around 16 showing any kind of talent for the position would be advised to get back out in the garden and start flinging themselves about the lawn: Your country needs you.

Goalkeeper Cieran Slicker had a debut to forget for Scotland. | SNS Group

As for Slicker, he must now cope with a few weeks’ break when what he really wants to do is get back out there. He and everyone else knows he should not have been put in the position he was on Friday. It was extraordinary - how often do teams lose one, let alone two goalkeepers in a single night? But it underlined the need to have three ready-to-play goalkeepers on hand.

Clarke was already struggling to fill the gaps when he announced his squad with Craig Gordon and others unfit or else inactive at their clubs. It’s a problem that needs to be solved for the benefit, Clarke said on Friday, “of the next coach, and the next coach and the one after that”. More pressing, though, is the need to settle on a No.1. Will the 42-year-old Gordon start next season as first choice at Hearts? Will Gunn have found a new club – will he even be fit? It’s a problem that, even when everyone is available, won’t magically resolve itself.

Back-room staff addition – geriatrics needs not apply

Since Euro 2024, Clarke has now lost two trusted lieutenants in Austin MacPhee, last seen jumping around with Portugal as they celebrated lifting the Nations League, and John Carver, his sidekick for the last five years.

It’s perhaps surprising that Carver has chosen now to leave, with a World Cup on the horizon. But he knows this could be his last chance to have another shot as a manager in his own right, and it’s not every day 60-year-olds are offered three-year contracts. It's something he deserves having led Lechia Gdansk to safety in the Polish top-flight from a very unpromising situation.

Long-serving Scotland assistant John Carver is leaving his role. | SNS Group

Everyone surely wishes him well. Clarke will have seen this day coming and says he already has plenty of names in mind. Looking at the current backroom staff, even without sexagenarian Carver, it still looks a bit...on the mature side. As well as Clarke, who turns 62 in August, there's Alan Irvine (66) and Chris Woods (65). Currently available younger coaches include Tony Docherty, Steven Naismith (who’s been involved before) and Robbie Neilson. It would be no surprise if Clarke turns to one of them ahead of September.

Hirst among equals – the striking positive

Perhaps the one area that is giving him less of a headache following these most recent games. Clarke has found a serious contender in George Hirst, who showed up well in both games against Iceland and Liechtenstein. He might have had a hat-trick in the former – he had a goal ruled out for offside and was denied by two good saves from Iceland 'keeper Elias Raffn Olafsson. He was also slightly off with a header that probably ought to have been buried.

But he scored a good No 9’s goal in Vaduz and looked the part. Of course, he will be playing Championship level football again with Ipswich Town by the time Scotland return to action but he’s clearly benefitted from a season in the Premier League.

George Hirst broke his Scotland duck in Vaduz. | SNS Group

Clarke is a huge fan of Lyndon Dykes – he attributes some of the woes in Germany last summer to his absence. So it's probably not true to say Hirst has jumped ahead of Dykes, who has been out injured since February, in the queue. But there are at least three names, possibly four if you include Tommy Conway, in the equation to lead the line (Lawrence Shankland seems to have slipped off the radar completely). As it stands, it’s hard to see past Che Adams in terms of obvious first choice, which has been the case for four years now – a reflection itself of too few realistic alternatives.

Robertson/Tierney conundrum rumbles on

This is the football equivalent of long running diplomatic disputes that seem to bubble away in perpetuity while getting no nearer a satisfactory conclusion. Might it be taken out of Clarke’s hands and be solved by a third party? What are Celtic’s intentions for Tierney, whose return to Parkhead has just been confirmed? He has, after all, reached the 50-cap mark against Iceland, during which he perhaps predictably picked up a strain.

Perhaps Brendan Rodgers will gently persuade Tierney that having made it into the SFA’s Roll of Honour, it’s time to focus solely on his club career.

Celtic have, after all, made a huge financial commitment in handing the full-back a five-year deal and it’s not uncommon for Parkhead players to quit international football in a bid to reduce the physical strain of competing on so many fronts. But the chance to qualify for a World Cup does not come round every year. Potentially, Scotland are just six games away from doing so. Now 28, Tierney will likely give it one more go which means the ball is back in Clarke’s court. What to do with two left-backs, both of whom are amongst the best footballers in the squad?

The manager has always referred to it as a good headache to have. But is it? Accommodating them both in a back five did not go well against Iceland, although there were some mitigating factors given the early goalkeeping drama. Nevertheless, it did feel regressive. Other options include playing Tierney on the left of midfield – as happened with varying degrees of success in two cameos against Greece in March – or, horror of horrors, leaving one of them, inevitably Tierney given Robertson’s status as skipper, on the bench. That might of course help make up the Celtic player’s mind when it comes to his Scotland future.