'I've earned the right' - Steve Clarke reveals when Scotland tenure likely to end as he addresses Euros fallout

Steve Clarke insists he deserves the chance to take Scotland to their first World Cup since 1998 despite question marks over his future following a disappointing Euro 2024 finals.

The Scotland manager was bullish when speaking for the first time since his side were eliminated from the group stage in Germany having earned just one point and scoring only two goals. However, while he stressed his commitment to Scotland for the remainder of his contract, he said he did not see himself continuing beyond 2026.

Clarke has announced a 24-man squad for the forthcoming Nations League games against Poland and Portugal, when Scotland will be competing in League A for the first time.

“I think it's just important that we get ourselves moving again, trying to move forward, trying to be better, trying to improve,” he said. “And that, whatever happens in the Nations League campaign, we come out of that ready for the World Cup qualifying campaign in 2025.”

He was asked if that tournament will be his last as Scotland manager. “What if we win it?!” he quipped. “I think I've earned the right to finish my contract. I haven't had any discussions about new contracts. I'm pretty sure in my own mind that I'll be coming up to 63 and it might be time to do something else.”

Despite Scotland being ranked the worst of all the Euro 2024 finalists, he retains faith in his own and his players’ ability to make it to the Americas in two summers’ time. He also noted being successful in qualifying for successive European Championship finals. 

Steve Clarke admits he is unlikely to lead Scotland beyond the 2026 World Cup. | SNS Group

“You know me,” he said. “I'm always confident. If you guys are saying that we're the 24th best team in the competition this summer, only 16 European teams go to the World Cup. It's going to be a big ask. I believe we can do it. That's why I'm sitting here. If I didn’t believe we could do it I would not be sitting here.”

Clarke was speaking for the first time since Euro 2024. It was a strange press conference in the sense that it was part post-mortem and part turning of the page following such a dismal Euros experience. 

The manager might have wanted to look to the future - teenage Liverpool forward Ben Doak and 20-year-old Sturm Graz wing-back Max Johnston have been included in the squad - but this wasn't always possible in the aftermath of Germany. There was still a feeling of unfinished business.

Clarke has been criticised not only for his tactics at the tournament, when Scotland lost a must-win third group match 1-0 to Hungary and were beaten 5-1 by Germany in the opening game, but also because he has not spoken publicly since a short press conference in Stuttgart after the final game. 

He denied he had been reluctant to meet with reporters in the weeks and months since. “I’m here,” he said. “I just didn't think there was anything to be gained by talking about it then and maybe touching on it again now,” he added. “Here we all are in one press conference. All you guys are here and it's been lovely to speak to you again….”

He was asked if anything had kept him awake following Euro 2024. Were there any major regrets? “Nothing kept me awake,” he said. “I slept very well. I was tired."

There has of course been a review on the coaches' part, all of it conducted in private. “It was a brief discussion,” said Clarke.

“You go through the whole process from when you start, when you name your squad, the build up, the preparation and ask: did we do it right? We felt we did at the time, you think you've prepared properly but you can look back at other things.”

His biggest disappointment was Scotland "not turning up for the first half against Germany". That, he said, "set us off on the wrong foot". He also acknowledged that lack of adventure hampered Scotland’s chances.

“We weren't creative enough," he said. "That's one thing we didn't do. We didn't create enough chances in the game. Certainly in the last game when Hungary sat in and looked to play counter-attack, we probably kept too many men behind the ball, too many players in deep positions, too many passes that weren't trying to hurt the opposition. So that's something we have to look at.”

Not unrelated to this is the news Clarke has drafted attacking midfielder Ryan Gauld into the squad. The 28-year-old's long international exile has become a cause celebre. Many in the Tartan Army are of the belief that the Vancouver Whitecaps player should have been included long before now. He was named in a Gordon Strachan squad in 2014 shortly after joining Sporting Lisbon from Dundee United but has not received an invite back until now. 

Having since played all his football abroad save for a short loan spell at Hibs, it has seemingly been a case of out of sight, out of mind.

It was the middle of the night in Canada when Clarke announced his squad, so Gauld, who was preparing for a Canadian championship game against Pacific, had little inkling he was being called up. “He can wake up and get a nice surprise…” said Clarke.  

The manager admitted Callum McGregor’s retirement from international football had taken him aback. “A little bit,” he said, when asked if the Celtic midfielder’s decision had come as a surprise. “I probably felt he had a few more years in him but I'm not Callum. It's Callum's decision to make that call and like I said before, we respect that decision.”