Scotland boss Steve Clarke hits new low and says dressing room ‘know what my feelings are’

Scotland narrowly beat Belarus to edge closer to the World Cup but the manner of their performance left Steve Clarke fuming with the head coach admitting it was a new low

Scotland boss Steve Clarke admits he hit a new low during his side’s win over Belarus at Hampden Park with the win not sugarcoating the fact it was “possibly as disappointed as I’ve been over the whole 72 games”.

The former Kilmarnock boss has been in charge since 2019, taking the Scots to the past two Euros, but couldn’t hide his frustration as they struggled to a win, which does edge them closer to their World Cup dream. Scotland won 2-1 to take maximum points from this set of international fixtures, which at least ensures a play-off place for next summer’s tournament in North America.

Che Adams put the hosts ahead after a quarter of an hour but they then struggled to put the match to bed. Napoli star Scott McTominay doubled their lead six minutes from time to all but end the contest. Belarus though did grab a goal in stoppage time.

Despite the win over the side ranked 100th in the world Clarke claimed their display was ultimately well below the desired levels – a feeling that was shared by the fans inside Hampden Park.

He said: “I’m really disappointed – really, really disappointed. It’s possibly as disappointed as I’ve been over the whole 72 games. We just didn’t turn up.

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“But before I go down that route, and you start asking me questions about why I’m feeling like that, it’s also to point out that performances don’t get you qualification. And tonight was certainly not a performance. But we got three points and that’s six points from the double-header so we’re really pleased about that, as everyone with a Scottish connection will be. But the performance was way below par.”

Clarke added: “It’s a head-scratcher. But I’ll go away, I’ll have a look, and we’ll analyse it. We’ll look at what we have to do better and how we can be more cohesive as a team without the ball. And how we have to be better as a team when we have possession. I’ve told them that in the dressing room, so they know what my feelings are.”

The Scotland boss’ frustration wasn’t lost on his players with John McGinn admitting he hadn’t seen that side of Clarke throughout his time playing under him. The Aston Villa midfielder confessed they will take any backlash on the chin following their display.

“At half-time – and deservedly so – it was the wildest I’ve seen him in 72 games,” he said of the head coach. “We’ll accept any criticism that comes our way, we’re old enough and strong enough to deal with that. We expect better of ourselves, the supporters expect better, but the main thing was getting over the line.”

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