STEVE Clarke’s phone will ring soon enough and on the other end will be a rich man with a lucrative offer.

It could be SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell. Maybe Peter Lawwell of Celtic. Perhaps it will be a club chairman from England who can top any contract offered up here.

And that’s when the best manager in Scotland, as voted by his peers at the PFA Scotland dinner on Sunday night, will have a big decision to make.

Clarke is 55. What he does next could be, in terms of his management career, may be the most important step he’ll ever make. However, do not think for a second that the step will naturally be away from Rugby Park.

It’s nice to be a wanted man – and the Kilmarnock manager most certainly is – but he loves his job and wants to bring silverware to Ayrshire. Winning a cup is next on the agenda and Clarke admitted that unfinished business could lead him to knock back the bigger job everyone is so keen for him to get.

The Herald:

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Clarke admitted: “That is a big part of the professional side of the argument that it going on in my head at the moment.

“If we take Kilmarnock into Europe, it would be a big thing. To try next season and win a trophy for Kilmarnock would be a big thing. To try and get a third top-six finish would be a big thing. But people wiser than me in the footballing world always say you never know.

“My phone is in my pocket and one call, one good conversation with someone and suddenly you have another decision to make.

“At the moment, I don’t have a decision to make. It’s only personal and professional because my job at Kilmarnock and missing my family down south. That’s the only choice I’ve got.

“I’ve been open with Billy (Bowie, Kilmarnock owner) from the start and try to be as open as possible with everyone in my life.

“It’s better to be honest with the fans and not to try to kid them on that I would be there forever when that might not be the case.”

The Herald:

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Clarke is certainly open. He fears too much at times but I disagree. Scottish football could do with more straight-talkers. He’s been superb for Kilmarnock and our game.

And to think the former manager of West Bromwich Albion and coach of Chelsea, Liverpool and Newcastle United wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing to go home.

Clarke admitted: “You have to be realistic. If this one hadn’t worked out, it may have been more difficult to get back in.

“But coming up here, if I hadn’t done a good job at Kilmarnock, I would probably have been dusting down the golf clubs and looking forward to many rounds of golf.

“Obviously, I could have got back as a coach, but I’m talking about a manager.

“As a manager, you have a shelf life. I had to choose the job carefully. I did quite a lot of research on it, quite a lot of work on the squad and spoke to people who knew players and decided that I could get them off the bottom of the table.

“If you’d told me in the first season we’d come off the bottom and into the top six with a record points total, I would have doubted you a little bit as we certainly overachieved last year.

The Herald:

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“At the moment, it looks as though we are going to overachieve this season, which is great.

“To see the club top of the table in December was particularly satisfying. I didn’t talk it up too much at the time because you know me, I try and downplay things as I don’t want to put too much pressure onto my players.

“And to be sitting third with two games to go and have Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibs sitting behind us is a compliment to everyone at the club because we have all worked hard to make it happen.”

Clarke is a character. So, too, Neil Lennon, Steven Gerrard, Craig Levein and Derek McInnes. His old boss Jose Mourinho would feel right at home. Isn’t the Special One on his way to Celtic?

Clarke said: “I’m not sure Jose would come to Scotland. I know he was very impressed and spoke a lot about the Celtic supporters when he was with Porto and they played Porto in Seville. He was amazed at the support that Celtic had.

“He always speaks well of the big Scottish clubs and how big Celtic and Rangers are. But I think he would probably be looking to go to a more high-profile European league.

“And somebody who is going to pay him a little bit closer to £10 or £12 million per year!”