Steve Clarke’s reluctance to provide a running commentary on his Scotland contract buys the SFA time and breathing space. It does nothing to silence the noise and the debate surrounding the manager’s future.
Clarke revealed last month that he had yet to receive an offer to extend his agreement beyond the World Cup finals.
A move which caught his employers by surprise might have had the opposite effect to what he intended. Reluctant to be bounced into an extension the SFA have yet to resolve the matter one way or the other. It remains to be seen if they do so before the squad fly to America at the end of next month.
While the boos which followed a 1-0 defeat to the Ivory Coast in Liverpool were an over-reaction, Clarke is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of supporters. Barely five months since he led the national team to their third major tournament in four attempts boredom and frustration is setting in. A job lot of industrial ear plugs could hardly blot out the clamour for change and a fresh approach.
Contrary to what people think the board of the SFA are neither deaf nor dumb and Clarke’s refusal to fan the flames he ignited last month was music to their ears.
Confirming that Scotland will face Bolivia in New Jersey on June 6 before the opening game against Haiti, the manager declined to speculate over the likelihood of his future being resolved before the squad gather for a warm weather training camp in Florida at the beginning of June.
“I want to concentrate on the World Cup. I’m sure if something happens you guys will know.
“If it doesn’t happen I am not bothered. I want to get to the World Cup and I want to be in the right frame of mind, I want the players to be in the right frame of mind and what happens will happen. It’s finished, I’m not talking about my contract any more.”
Should he stick with that stance, the governing body can afford to hold fire on a contract offer. While the boos of a vocal minority will have no bearing on how they jump, results in America might. It makes sense to wait.
Hot on the heels of an underwhelming home loss to Japan, Ivory Coast made it eight defeats from the last eleven friendlies. Barracked after the weekend defeat to Japan Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium hosted a crowd of 33,024, a minority of which booed the team off the pitch at half and full-time.
Booing friendly defeats is hardly unique to Scotland fans. England’s defeat to Japan at Wembley provoked much the same public reaction as the same result at Hampden. At some point the great British public might be forced to acknowledge the fact that Hajime Moriyasu’s Japan are actually a decent football team.
Facing calls for a change of shape and approach against Ivory Coast, Clarke appeared to listen. Reverting to a 3-5-2 he played two strikers up front. Whatever he tries there is no way of reversing Scotland’s dismal record in friendlies.
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Ivory Coast, the African Nations quarter finalists overcame a ropey start to score with a breakaway goal after 12 minutes before taking control of the game. While the performance was more spirited, lively and energetic than Japan, Scotland’s deficiencies should be obvious to all by now. Even bladdered boo boys.
The definition of what constitutes success for Scotland has changed, Clarke becoming a victim of his own qualification record.
When successive teams failed to reach one tournament after another all supporters asked for was a return to the big stage.
When they finally got there the experience was an anti climax. Back to back appearances at the Euros brought six games, four defeats and two draws. The manager drew criticism from all quarters for sending his team out with the handbrake on.
An invite to party is no longer a reward in itself. Supporters want to fly to far flung shores and see goals and wins and a team competing with the best in the planet. They want to pay good money to be entertained. They want to see the team go down fighting.
While this team have their moments, it’s not entirely clear that they are up to the job.
While Scotland has half a dozen or so top quality players operating at a high level, talk of a ‘golden generation’ is overblown.
The goalkeeper options are unconvincing, first picks Aaron Hickey and Ben Gannon Doak are battling for fitness, no one knows the best central defensive partnership and there is no natural attacking width on the left side of the pitch.
The biggest problem remains the lack of a natural, goalscoring striker. None of the options available to Clarke would get a game for a team in the upper half of the English Premier League.
Against Ivory Coast the final pass was untidy, inaccurate or missing. In the final third the team lacks the composure and penetration needed to win games at a World Cup. Promising moments fall to bits the minute they reach the 18-yard box.
One goal, one win, might be all it takes. Beat Haiti in the opening game and Clarke might be just the man to drive the Tartan Army round the bend by keeping the score down against Morocco and Brazil and securing a place in the knock out stages as one of the best placed third place nations.
There’s something to be said for being hard to beat, as discovered by the seven nations above Scotland in the FIFA rankings who have failed to make it to the World Cup. Fans of Italy, Denmark, Nigeria, Ukraine, Poland, Russia and Wales would kill for Scotland’s problems now.
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