Steve Clarke critics taken down by Scotland manager's son as Warsaw win completes satisfying redemption arc
Scotland boss completes redemption arc in Warsaw
Two old flatmates from their time together in Dundee combining to score Scotland’s winner. John McGinn grabbing the goal to move into the top five in Scotland’s all-time scorers’ list with his dad watching in the stand above.
Don’t forget the teenage Ben Doak producing yet another assist and Craig Gordon performing heroics in goal at the grand old age of nearly 42. Amid abundant storylines that developed in Warsaw, perhaps the most satisfying one of all was the completion, or at least near completion, of Steve Clarke's redemption arc in what had been a torrid year.
It contained all the ingredients required by those wishing to create a compelling narrative. This included some poignancy in the form of an emotional outburst from one of Clarke’s two sons, who has clearly been storing up a lot of frustration in recent times while reading so much negative comment about his father.
Taking to X shortly after the final whistle in Warsaw, when Andy Robertson’s injury-time header from old Dundee United pal John Souttar’s cross secured a memorable win over Poland, John Clarke was in the mood for some sport. He took down his dad’s critics, calling them “pricks” and hailing the Scotland team, who while not of course the finest team to ever grace the dark blue jersey, are certainly all still playing for the manager.
It’s not the first time John has felt compelled to hit out. After a 3-0 defeat to Republic of Ireland in 2022, he used an expletive when calling out a BBC Scotland correspondent before deleting the tweet – it was Twitter then – and apologising. No apology this time around, rightly so. One wasn’t necessary.
The message remains there for all to read, as do the replies, including one from Clarke’s nephew, Peter. You don’t have to be a member of the manager’s own family to enjoy seeing his reputation recover. It comes on the back of a Nations League campaign that saw Scotland avoid the automatic relegation fate that many viewed as inevitable.
Granted, Clarke still won't be everyone's cup of tea. Some might argue that it will take more than third in a four-team group, elite or otherwise, to deserve to be forgiven for the perceived lack of ambition in Germany in the summer. Some might even call him lucky Steve Clarke, which is a laugh. Any fortune enjoyed over the last two games, and even against Portugal at Hampden last month, has been seriously overdue. After so much late heartbreak in recent weeks and months, Scotland were due dishing out some pain on someone else. Clarke deserves his moment in the sun. It’s also easy to forget that the manager lost his own father, Eddie, earlier this year, following a long battle with dementia.
It's been challenging personally as well as professionally. In the latter case, the loss of so many players due to injury prior to the Euros severely hampered his plans and might have been partly behind a seeming loss of confidence in his squad.
Of course, the big absence was Doak, but then it’s doubtful Clarke would have made significant use of a player who was then so short of senior football experience. That’s not the case now, and Clarke is reaping the benefit. The manager appears to be enjoying himself again. Was that a smile we saw break out across his bristled features at full-time on Monday night?
He’s certainly got his mojo back. A triple substitution against Croatia just before the 65-minute mark helped turn the tide against admittedly ten men. The decision to replace Doak with Ryan Christie shortly after Poland had equalised was equally bold; Clarke knew what people would use it as a(nother) stick to beat him with. It seemed to others, this writer included, a wise move. Doak was clearly tiring and had already inflicted the kind of damage Clarke had hoped would be the case when he opted to start the teenager, having teased on the eve of the game that he might not.
The manager appears to have found his Midas touch again. Ahead of a huge year, potentially one of Scotland’s toughest, it’s a good time to have done so. The SFA wouldn’t have wanted to have to start a new manager recruitment process in the last weeks of 2024. And neither would it have been ideal for Clarke’s successor to begin their tenure in the high stakes setting of a World Cup qualifying campaign. Instead, a refreshed team will attack 2025 with a refreshed manager, with the first task to extend their League A Nations League lifeline by winning a two-legged play off in March, with the opposition to be revealed on Friday. The first leg will be his 65th in charge of the national side. Craig Brown’s best-ever total of 71 games remains very much in sight.
Clarke might have other dilemmas to solve by the Spring, including what happens when Kieran Tierney returns to fitness? Perhaps that isn’t even a dilemma any longer. Left centre-back, Tierney’s bespoke spot in recent years, is now a redundant concept. Clarke has settled on playing four at the back, slightly belatedly admittedly. Robertson proved on Monday why he should always be the first pick at left-back, unless Clarke decides to play him further forward to accommodate Tierney.
The manager can count on being under scrutiny soon enough, as ought to be the case. But even his critics will surely allow him some downtime with his nearest and dearest. Despite how it might have felt in late summer, Clarke can rest assured his family aren’t his only fans.
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