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By GARY KEOWN Published: 18: 00 AEDT, 22 March 2026 | Updated: 18: 00 AEDT, 22 March 2026 View comments Can we have a wee rest, please, from this silliness about Steve Clarke being given a new contract as Scotland manager before the World Cup has even started? Clarke talked during the week about his future as national boss being ‘50/50’. Then, yesterday, Steven Naismith, a member of his coaching team, stated on Radio Scotland that it would be ‘preferable’ for his future to be sorted out before things get underway in the summer. What’s the rush, exactly? Surely, we need to see how the World Cup actually pans out before we decide which direction we are going in as a nation and who the national coach should be. Clarke has done the country a huge service by making major finals a thing again. It’s wonderful to be looking forward to this long-awaited return to the Greatest Show on Earth after two outings at the European Championship finals. However, as SFA president Mike Mulraney was at pains to point out midway through Euro 2024 in Germany, qualifying is not enough for Scotland any longer. The SFA need to believe they have a coach that can deliver results on the highest stage and, as of this moment, Clarke has offered little to suggest he is the man to take that great leap forward. Clarke was a hit in salmon fishing season but can he help Scotland take a giant leap Stateside? The team took stage fright at Euro 2020 against the Czech Republic and Croatia. Euro 2024 was just a disgrace. Clarke and his team looked scared of their own shadows. It was all there for the taking in the final fixture against a mediocre Hungary and, for all the complaints about Stuart Armstrong being denied a penalty, everyone knows we deserved exactly what we got in the end. Clarke’s behaviour afterwards was really poor as well, disappearing into thin air for months after a short post-match media conference which focused largely on the nationality of the Argentinian referee and whether or not he could speak English. Clarke is lucky he didn’t get the bullet after that. Unfortunately, you get the feeling the SFA will pretty much let him do what he wants when it comes to it, but it shouldn’t be that way. If Clarke wants a new deal, he should have to earn it and Mulraney should be made to stick to what he said back in Germany about our new expectations.
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