Scotland narrowly defeated Belarus to move closer to the World Cup, but their performance left Steve Clarke furious and the head coach admitted it was their worst ever.
Scotland manager Steve Clarke admitted his side’s win against Belarus at Hampden Park was a record low, but the win did not underpin the fact that he was “probably as disappointed as I’ve felt over 72 games”.
The former Kilmarnock manager has been in charge since 2019 and led Scotland to the last two Euros, but he could not hide his frustration as Scotland struggled to win as they moved closer to their World Cup dream. Scotland won 2-1, taking the maximum points from the international match and securing at least a play-off spot in next summer’s North American competition.
Che Adams put the hosts ahead after 15 minutes, but after that they struggled to finish the game. Napoli star Scott McTominay doubled the lead with six minutes remaining and the game was over. However, Belarus scored in stoppage time.
Despite their win against a world No. 100 opponent, Clarke insisted their performance ultimately fell well below desired levels, a sentiment echoed by the fans at Hampden Park.
He said: “I’m really disappointed, I’m really, really disappointed. I’m probably as disappointed as I’ve been throughout 72 games. I just didn’t get to play.”
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“But before I go down that road and before you start asking questions as to why I feel that way, it’s also just to point out that performance doesn’t qualify. And tonight was certainly not a performance. But we got three points and that’s six points in a double header so we’re really happy about that, as everyone with a Scottish connection is. But the performance was well below par.”
Clark added: “It’s a head-scratcher. But I’m going to go away and look at it and analyze it. What we have to improve on, how we can come together more as a team when we don’t have the ball. And how we have to be better as a team when we have the ball. I told them that in the locker room, so they understand how I feel.”
The Scotland manager’s frustration was felt by his players, with manager John McGinn admitting he had never seen that side of Clarke during his time with him. The Aston Villa midfielder admitted he would take any backlash on the chin after their performance.
“At halftime, of course it was the wildest I’ve seen in 72 games,” he said of his head coach. “We will accept any criticism that comes our way. We are old enough and strong enough to deal with it. We expect better ourselves and the supporters also expect better, but the important thing was to get over the line.”
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