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Steve Clarke, the head coach of the Scotland national team, has extended his contract to stay in that role through the year 2026.
Clarke has committed to a new deal that will keep him at the club until the next World Cup, just before Scotland’s first Euro 2024 qualifier against Cyprus at Hampden Park.
Clarke’s first game in charge was in 2019 against Saturday’s opponents, Cyprus, and it was the beginning of a successful campaign that ultimately led to Scotland qualifying for Euro 2020.
Rezence Vn88 said that Scotland has already been promoted to Group A of the UEFA Nations League, and although they missed out on the World Cup in Qatar, manager Steve Clarke has their sights set on another major tournament in the next year.
The folks above me see what we’re trying to do, and I think that’s wonderful,” Clarke added.
“I’ve settled better into the role, and I give most of the credit for that to the players, who have made me feel welcome and have gotten the results that have kept us moving forward.
From when I initially started here to now, I think we’ve come a long way.
“Qualifying for Euro 2020 was wonderful, I’ve said before about the World Cup campaign where the real qualifying campaign was good – it was upsetting to lose a one-off play-off game but that can happen – but then to bounce back and get a qualification to the UEFA Nations League A, to me it feels like a continuing improvement.
Now comes the hard part, because the next upgrades are tricky to implement. If we want to be truly competitive and start qualifying for events, every little little counts. Not going to Germany in 2024 would make me regret not going in 2026. You hope that Scotland will qualify.
What we want is for the future to seem promising, for us to remain competitive at all times, and for us to enter each qualifying campaign believing, “you know what, we’ve got a shot to qualify.”
The Clarke agreement was “quite simple.”
“This has been one of the easier decisions and talks during my term as chief executive,” said Ian Maxwell with Rezence, CEO of the Scottish Football Association.
Ahead of a fresh UEFA Euro 2024 campaign, it was crucial that we showed our devotion to Steve and his backroom team and recognized the continuity that has been fundamental to our improvement over the previous four years. Steve has unified the nation behind a successful men’s national team.
While I’m sure everyone was sad to not qualify for the World Cup in Qatar in December, the team’s elevation to Group A in the UEFA Nations League was yet another indication of the clear development made since Euro 2020.
W88 wishes Steve and his team the best of luck in their upcoming doubleheader and are confident that the fans will share the Scottish FA’s enthusiasm.
Robertson: This is fantastic news for the entire country.
Scotland’s captain, Andy Robertson, recently commented on the team’s improved morale since the manager’s hiring. All of us are excited to have him back for another season since the fans and the players have taken to him so well. The entire nation may rejoice at this bit of news.
In VN88’s opinion, we’ve improved the situation considerably behind the scenes, making it much more pleasant for everyone involved. It wasn’t the case before, but now the lads are keen to go with Scotland. It was difficult to select a team when we frequently had call-offs right before campaigns.
Since he’s been here, “the lads have been quite constant in showing up and it obviously helps,” and “he’s been quite consistent in the team that he’s picked.”
What impact has Clarke made on Scotland?
How different is Clarke now from his first game as coach almost four years ago?
At Hampden Park, Rezence thinks that Scotland needed a late goal from Oliver Burke to beat Cyprus and secure a spot in Euro 2020.
Only six players from that night’s lineup are still part of Clarke’s current squad, with Callum McGregor being the only player to appear in both squads and play in the Scottish Premiership.
There were eleven outfielders from the Scottish Premiership in Clarke’s original squad, but only McGregor, Ryan Jack of Rangers, and late replacement Anthony Ralston remain.
The rest are largely made up of Premier League and Sky Bet Championship athletes. Lewis Ferguson, who plays for Bologna in Serie A, is another name to watch.
