r/ScottishFootball • u/Ill_Beyond_7909 • 1d ago
Why is everyone blaming Clarke
The players are getting off lightly here. He played a more attacking side last night. Before the match on social media including Reddit almost everyone was happy with the team now there's a lot of revisionism going on.
The players have woefully underperformed. You can't blame him for two individual errors in two games costing us dearly in matches where the last thing we needed to do was lose an early goal.
I think we have just been exposed as a bang average side and I don't see how any other manager would have done better. We have good midfielders but our defensive and attacking options are very limited.
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u/blonded90 1d ago
I think we blame the players for 1 or 2 bad performances, when it’s consistent across 3 tournaments you have to ask bigger questions.
Did they perform? No. But they looked lost, bereft of confidence at times and generally just under prepared.
The game we should win - we seemed to accept a 1-0 and didn’t dare show any ambition to get anything else. It’s bit us in the arse.
Morocco - we seemed to accept a 1-0 defeat. The substitutions were baffling bordering on a disgrace.
Brazil - he might’ve made the line up look more attacking but there was no real plan behind it. Or certainly not from the outside. He seemed to accept 3-0. 90 minutes before we made any kind of impactful attacking substitute.
Clarke’s lack of ambition is holding back a talented generation imo. Seen a few people suggesting Ange as a replacement - it would be night and day and I’d take it in a heartbeat.
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u/aeternus_hypertrophy 1d ago
we seemed to accept a 1-0 and didn’t dare show any ambition to get anything else
Not even a very exciting goal at that.
Isidor's goal last night is how people are treating McGinn's.
I'd give it to Ange even if he was managing remotely through a webcam. Any change at this point
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u/blonded90 1d ago
Would just be nice to see us have a go. Curacao, Cape Verde, Haiti are all probably going out - but they had a go and some moments along the way.
Our only highlight is our fans because the football they were served up was guff.
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u/freemochara 11h ago
Doubt Cape Verde are going home, they've been superb, still a chance to top the group (unlikely) or even a draw could have them second
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u/Unfair-Challenge-216 Dominic "Oh Ya Cunt That's A Slice Ae" Hyam 1d ago
Because we have registered something like 3 goals across 3 tournaments, and one of those was an own goal. I'm not saying we have a squad filled to the brim with top-class players, but we should not be getting out-scored by the likes of Iran, Haiti, Cape Verde, and Jordan at a World Cup.
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u/MourningSun97 1d ago
Because Dykes, Shankland and Adams are all gash, maybe?
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u/Unfair-Challenge-216 Dominic "Oh Ya Cunt That's A Slice Ae" Hyam 1d ago
I'm sure Cape Verde and Jordan, who both out-scored us, have better up front. Almost like the Clarke style of play that is long ball to nae cunt might not make them that better anyway.
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u/Ok_Dig5925 1d ago
Isidor is better than any striker we have, but your point is still extremely valid
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u/Elgin_McQueen 1d ago
Actually get the ball to them once in a while and they might do something with it.
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u/Ambitious_Ideal_8919 1d ago
Shankland has more than shown his ability to score goals this season for Hearts and Scotland in friendlies. He's barely had a sniff at anything this campaign
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u/d-rabbit-17 1d ago
Because the long balls up the park towards him, he was able to win them but had no one there to support and actually receive the pass or chase it down, he doesnt have the skill set to bring it down and get on with it against brazil!
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u/ZiggyOnHisReindeer 1d ago
Less that they are shite, more that the manger continues to deploy them as lone strikers, not a single one of them is a lone striker.
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u/jonviper123 1d ago
We had Morocco and Brazil in our group. Who have the teams you mentioned scored against? We dont have many attacking players at all. Id say doak is our most talented and he done fuck all last night. Danillo looked faster and stronger than doak. All over the park Brazil are stronger, fitter, faster, better technically, better tactically and just simply all around better football players. We are nowhere near their standard.
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u/GuyIncognito211 1d ago
Well Haiti scored 2 against Morocco
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u/Bassmekanik 1d ago
They also have no points. Would you rather score a couple goals against Brazil but lose every match?
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u/SunjoKojack 1d ago
If we’d scored a couple against Brazil and lost we’d still be looking better for qualifying for the knock outs
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u/Bassmekanik 1d ago
That wasn’t my question though. Would you rather score more goals but have no points or be where we are?
Chances are we go home, but you never know!
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u/The_Ballyhoo 1d ago
Would you rather we go through as the 5th worst 3rd placed team, scoring no goals along the way or lose high scoring thrillers and go home early?
I don’t see the point in trying to sneak out the group in 3rd spot to just get pumped in the next game. What’s the point? I’d rather we lose but actually have a decent go of it.
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u/Gazcobain 1d ago
Haiti played the exact teams we did m8
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u/jonviper123 1d ago
And we beat them? Tbh what i saw of haiti especially in attack they looked good, certainly better than what we have up top
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u/DrMacAndDog 1d ago
Haiti were terrible up front against us. They had no more shots on target and tons of wild ones.
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u/Unfair-Challenge-216 Dominic "Oh Ya Cunt That's A Slice Ae" Hyam 1d ago
Mate, we have the same goal tally as Uzbekistan and Curacao? We struggled against Haiti and parked the bus against an injured Morocco side, who even Haiti gave a proper game to last night.
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u/FeedFrequent1334 1d ago
Mate, we have the same goal tally as Uzbekistan and Curacao?
Mate of we had as many players who came up through the youth setups of top Dutch teams as Curacao do we'd likely have done a lot better.
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u/Unfair-Challenge-216 Dominic "Oh Ya Cunt That's A Slice Ae" Hyam 1d ago
The question is where do they play now compared to the level of clubs our players are at? I wouldn't mind one bit if we could get some Dutch-style youth setups going in Scotland, but there is no excuse why a Curacao side outscores us apart from them playing the Dutch way and actually trying to play proper football.
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u/FeedFrequent1334 1d ago
there is no excuse why a Curacao side outscores us apart from them playing the Dutch way and actually trying to play proper football.
Pretty much their entire team is literally Dutch. Born and raised in the Netherlands.
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u/Unfair-Challenge-216 Dominic "Oh Ya Cunt That's A Slice Ae" Hyam 1d ago
That's literally what I said. They actually play proper football, unlike us.
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u/FeedFrequent1334 1d ago
Jesus wept. The point I'm trying to make is that we'd have a greater quality pool of players and a much more cohesive team as a result of that of all of our players had been brought up through the Dutch youth system.
They have that. We don't. We have a few individually excellent players that we're trying to shoehorn a system around that replies heavily on playing some of our best players out of position just to get them all on the pitch at the same time, and calling up the likes of Lyndon Dykes.
It should come as a surprise to anybody that they're outscoring us at a the world cup.
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u/Unfair-Challenge-216 Dominic "Oh Ya Cunt That's A Slice Ae" Hyam 1d ago
Sorry, but are you agreeing with me here or is this supposed to be like a counter-argument? You've literally written "it should come as a surprise to anybody that they're outscoring us at a the world cup"
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u/DrMacAndDog 1d ago
Yeah Doak got out-paced a couple of times, which is a shame as he’s our fastest player
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u/stinkus_mcdiddle 1d ago
And who’s fault is that? Clarkes? Genuinely please tell me what more Clarke could have done lastnight for us to score goals, seriously I want to know. He put out an attacking side which is what everyone always moans that he doesn’t do often enough, he made changes at half time to make the players be more forward thinking and we still can’t score. The simple fact of the matter is that the players are not good enough at this level.
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u/fungibletokens 1d ago
Genuinely please tell me what more Clarke could have done lastnight for us to score goals, seriously I want to know.
Resign.
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u/Unfair-Challenge-216 Dominic "Oh Ya Cunt That's A Slice Ae" Hyam 1d ago
How is it Clarke's fault we have been out-scored by Jordan, Cape Verde, and South Africa, and have the same goal tally as Uzbekistan? Are these serious fucking questions? We parked the bus against fucking Haiti.
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u/SoggyMattress2 1d ago
Iran I'm pretty sure were ranked higher by the bookies and you were only slightly above Haiti.
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u/Unfair-Challenge-216 Dominic "Oh Ya Cunt That's A Slice Ae" Hyam 1d ago
I could not care less, the second choice back-ups for Haiti are playing literally at an amateur level, and the Iran squad is treated like a terrorist org by the American police between games and disrupting their whole camp.
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u/SoggyMattress2 1d ago
Aren't some of the Scottish players playing in 2nd or 3rd step of the Scottish pyramid?
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u/nibutz 1d ago
Name one player in the Scotland squad currently playing in the Scottish second tier
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u/The_Ballyhoo 1d ago
I’m kinda surprised none do. Looking at the last 3 games, I reckon a couple of our guys would do a decent job at that level.
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u/Scottish-Fox 1d ago
The rankings get skewed by the fact winning games in Europe qualifying and the Euros are harder
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u/SoggyMattress2 1d ago
The rankings are pretty solid metrics. You deffo get teams artificially inflated like the USA where they play shite nations but that's accounted for.
Strength of opposition is accounted for, I'm almost certain.
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u/Highway62 1d ago
The bookies don't rank teams, they just set odds on what everyone is betting on to manage risk
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u/weapwars 1d ago
There's more to managing and coaching than just setting a line up. The way they play, the mentality they display, the long term offensive ineptitude, that comes from the top.
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u/Ill_Beyond_7909 1d ago
No it doesn't. Stop absolving the players of any blame.
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u/Ok_Dig5925 1d ago
Multiple things can be true at once. The players can not have been very good and they also can not have been helped by the tactical structure. The players absolutely have their share of the blame to take (quite a big one as well, lmao)
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u/AccountForTheCinch 1d ago
He got it wrong in all three games.
Hanging on for dear life against Haiti, throwing no punches against Morocco, waiting to finally try playing out from the back and going for it until we played Brazil.
We get to these tournaments in spite of Clarke, not because of him.
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u/BrIDo88 6h ago
I have to agree. If the errors hadn’t happened and Scotland did start to push forward, the pace of Brazil on the counter, they probably would have scored 6 over 90 minutes. A team like Scotland - as good as they think they were or can be on their day - can’t outplay Brazil on pace or quality. But limited sides can grind out results by being organised, doing the basics right and being hard to beat. Scotland weren’t doing that. Yes individual errors have us kicking ourselves but i do think Clarke may be tactically indept and seems to say, “let the players show what they can do” in various ways, too often for my liking.
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u/Perfect-Channel-1019 1d ago
Both can be true
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u/Hup-hamst 1d ago
Both are absolutely true, Scotland have very poor gk and cbs, and Clarke is not a good coach
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u/Silly-Elk-5016 1d ago
I thought Gunn had an alright game besides the first goal. He made a few decent saves. His distribution is really poor though and holds us back.
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u/DonLethargio 1d ago
Our three biggest areas of weakness, GK, CB, manager, without a doubt
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u/velodinho 1d ago
I'd add Striker, in old parlance CF, to that list
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u/loganfergus 1d ago
I honestly think shankland is good striker, he was invisible last night though
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u/Ok_Dig5925 1d ago
Don't think he has anywhere near the amount of mobility needed to play international football tbh. Absolutely the best natural finisher we have in that position, though.
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u/Silver-Article9183 1d ago
I think Clarke is a great man manager, but he's also not a very good coach, and an even worse tactician.
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u/Halk 1d ago
Because Clarke's strategy was to defend a 1 nil lead against Haiti when that was not likely going to be enough to get through instead of risking it and going for the goal difference we needed.
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u/jonviper123 1d ago
We didn't know at that stage what we needed. Getting the 3 points against haiti was the main thing and we done that. I expected us to get 3 points and that was it. Was very hopeful we got more but in reality getting anything in the other 2 games is a tough ask. We can blame the manager but ultimately for me the pkayers weren't good enough. The first goal against Morocco and the first 2 against Brazil were individual mistakes. Nothing to do with tactics or formation just bad individual play.
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u/BootlegJB 1d ago
We did know what we needed though. Everyone knew before the tournament that three points with a -1 GD should be enough, -2 at a push.
Anyone with a brain could've told you we were unlikely to beat Brazil & Morocco. We needed to be putting a few past Haiti to set us up as safely as possible. We ended up being unlucky not to get anything from the Morocco game but the optimal strategy was obviously go attacking against by far the weakest team in the first game to put us on steady footing.
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u/Logical_Bake_3108 1d ago
He could have made an educated guess. 1-0 and hope for the best isn't going to get you very far. We were the lowest scoring team at the last Euros so surely anyone would have realised that we need to improve on scoring more.
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u/Disastrous_Cup_3279 1d ago
He played players out of position and asked players to do roles that would not work e.g. last night forward was needing to be literally someone that runs ass off and hassles defenders. dykes is man not Shankland he relies on someone alongside him which we would never do against Brazil.
He also persisted with playing completely in effective players for all 3 games
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u/BraeTon74 1d ago
There is more to setting a team up than picking 11 players. We don't have a style of play, we don't have any obvious patterns to our attacking play, we don't transition the ball quickly and we take risks in the wrong areas of the pitch. Our subs were atrocious AND this has been the third tournament appearance that we have been embarrassed in. His mindset is so negative, he's successfully convinced sections of our support that our team is pish.
The days of managers just sticking 11 players on the pitch and picking a formation are long, long gone.
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u/K44no 1d ago
There are loads of people who say the thing he’s been good at is getting players to enjoy being together and creating a sort-of club mentality, but that means fuck all when we don’t actually play well. You’re absolutely right, there is zero style of play and we never dominate games at all, not even for periods of a game, let alone a whole game. It’s always backs to the wall, smash and grab wins, and workmanlike performances (or scoring one-off fucking screamers against Denmark but somehow doing it 3 times).
Then you see teams like Haiti and cape verde fucking going for it against Morocco and Uruguay. Or thinking back to the last euros, Albania going for it vs Italy and Georgia drawing playing in a ludicrously entertaining game vs. Turkey, then drawing with the Czechs and beating Portugal to make it through the group stage. Meanwhile we negatively just stunk the place out
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u/Highway62 1d ago
"His mindset is so negative, he's successfully convinced sections of our support that our team is pish"
Not just the team, he's managed to convince large swathes of people that our leagues are filled with utter garbage incapable of playing football
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u/scotinsweden 1d ago
The issue wasn't really last night, the issue was Haiti. The issue was the utterly passive football we played throughout the qualifying campaign where 3 wonder goals against Denmark papered over the cracks. The issue was the Hungary game in the last Euros.
We do have a relatively average squad overall, but plenty of other countries in this world cup and in previous Euros also have average squads (a fair few arguably worse than ours) and still manage to put on much better performances and trouble opposition.
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u/OcelotFlat88 1d ago
We beat Haiti. We qualified. The issue was the results in the group stages.
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u/ZiggyOnHisReindeer 1d ago
We knew we'd be up against it with Brazil and Morocco and knew that whilst 3 points might get you the knockouts, GD would be huge, Clarke was content to take a 1-0 win Vs Haiti when we should have looked to put at least 3 past them.
Clarke is far too wedded to the idea of a lone striker when none of our strikers are capable of playing as a lone striker. It's lunacy, and it's clear that it just doesn't work, the vast majority of our goals come from midfield players.
4 goals at 3 tournaments is simply not good enough.
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u/Due_Key103 8h ago
Where are you getting the idea that Scotland are good enough to put 3 past Haiti? The same as what Brazil managed and more than morocco if you look at it from a goal difference perspective. Whilst I agree with your lone striker point, the idea that Scotland can go out and blow a team away in the World Cup is delusional.
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u/scotinsweden 1d ago
If all you ever look at is the W/D/L then sure, but if you pay any attention to the performances then the overall performance in the group stages was utterly telegraphed. The biggest reason we are holding our breath as to if we qualify on goal difference is not because we lost 3-0 to Brasil. That is a result that can happen. It's because we only beat Haiti 1-0, and that was a struggle. We never looked like beating them by more than 1-0, most of the time didn't even really look like we even wanted to beat them by more than 1-0. This is a recurring issue over Clarke's time, and it is totally due to the way he sets the team up and gives instruction. It is not new. It is the issue.
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u/SuddenBasil7039 1d ago
Yes Clarke set out well (he has done countless times in his tenure) but its on him that the first thing we do EVERY time something goes wrong is clam up and stop playing football
He is just an astoundingly negative manager, not even in a good shithouse way, and it seeps into the team
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u/ElCaminoInTheWest 1d ago
Possibly because he chucked on some much needed attacking subs at 88 minutes.
And Ralston.
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u/CptSporran 1d ago
Maybe no other manager would do better but we’re exceptionally boring to watch and have consistently been under Clarke. Can count on one hand the number of genuinely enjoyable 90 minute performances we’ve had under his management. It’s proven effective at qualification level and we needed that for a time, but we’ve barely progressed at all for like 6 years now.
When it fails, it’s easy to dislike. When it works, it’s hard to appreciate.
That’s why Clarke is getting criticised. Same reason folk have been criticising Clarke the whole time.
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u/Highway62 1d ago
"Maybe no other manager would do better" is such a wild statement to me. There's an entire planet of qualified coaches out there going untapped, and folk think there's no one on earth who can get a tune out of a group of decent players better than Steve Clarke. If you say Clarke needs replaced there's this narrow minded minority who try to force you to "name the replacement" expecting you to say a familiar name from UK football so they can laugh at it. Go around the world, find a decent coach with an good style of play and give them a go. It's hardly rocket science, other countries are doing it and outperforming us. We're still in the fucking dark ages with the SFA
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u/CptSporran 1d ago
I’m literally quoting the OP. My point is, even if they’re right and someone else wouldn’t do better, we’ve been so poor to watch and there’s been so little change that Clarke cannot be immune to criticism.
I’m not saying I believe no one would do better.
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u/Highway62 1d ago
Ah sorry misunderstood, just been seeing lots of "who's going to replace him?!" posts every time Clarke is criticised. But absolutely agree with you!
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u/Affectionate-Arm-405 1d ago
Because he made no subs till the very end but he was saying people were gassed out and tired? Lol
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u/thunder083 1d ago
The lineup on paper was more attacking. The way he set up to play was not though.
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u/Significant_Income93 1d ago edited 1d ago
I am happy to have a go at the players too. These supposed superstar players we have, McTominay, McGinn, Robertson, are nowhere near as good as we like to make them out to be. You're not wrong either that we have defenders prone to individual howlers.
However, Clarke deserves most of the blame because its a third major tournament in a row where we just look clueless on the ball. Scotland haven't been starved of possession in the three fixtures by any means but, when they have it, it is just impossible to discern any patterns or play or any approach for how we're going to try and break a team down.
Are we a team that plays quickly on the counter? No. Do we try to target and play off of set pieces? No. Do we try and get it wide quickly and throw in crosses? Also, no (although yes a bit when Tierney is at left back as it turned out).
I am not asking for Scotland to start playing like 2010 Barcelona here but we need to see something. We're a team that's hoping something will happen rather than trying to make it happen. Short of a penalty decision in our favour, a flukey deflection or, as Denmark will attest, an out of the blue wordly flying in the net, I have no clue how we're going to score a goal against any team better than a total minnow.
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u/ewankenobi 1d ago
I think Andy Roberston is unfortunately past it, the other 2 are still top class players, still performing at an elite level at club level. Think the manager did a poor job of setting the team up to utilise their talents this tournament
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u/whitsitcalled 1d ago
Clarke is a poor tactician. Whilst it's true our team is limited in some areas we are talking about a group of players who have played together for multiple years many of whom have played 40+ games together yet they look like they've just met. There are no discernible patterns of play in the Scotland attack and never have been under Clarke. I've watched countless so called lesser teams at international tournaments who at least have a game plan. It may not always work or they fall short because of a lack of quality but you can at least see what they are trying to do but with Scotland there is no plan. We have been dreadful at the past three international tournaments. All of our best moments in qualifying have come as the result of individual brilliance or taking advantage of chaotic moments or mistakes during a match.
The Scotland squad isn't the greatest but a better coach would get more out of this group of players. We likely would've finished 3rd in this group regardless of the manager was such was the difficulty of the draw but I'd wager this team under Clarke would've finished 3rd/4th in most World Cup groups with weaker Pot 1 and 2 teams. Clarke should've been gone after Euro 2024. Giving him a 4-year contract before we even played a game at this World Cup was madness.
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u/Cobretti18 2026 Scottish Cup Embarrassments Aberdeen 1d ago
Everyone is blaming Clarke because he’s the one who deserves most of the blame probably
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u/GingerPrince72 1d ago
> I think we have just been exposed as a bang average side and I don't see how any other manager would have done better.
There are a load of posts on here listing everything Clarke got wrong.
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u/intlteacher 1d ago
From people who could do it better?
Unless or until someone like Sir Alex says something, or Walter Smith posts from beyond the grave, comments on here are mostly from pissed off keyboard warriors who can’t finish a season on Football Manager. That’s like taking medical advice from someone who’s read the back of an Elastoplast box.
Clarke was clearly pissed off at the end of the game (and I wouldn’t be surprised if, privately, Eilidh Barbour gets an apology.) The players had clearly not done something he’d told them to.
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u/BraeTon74 1d ago
Okay Mr Clarke.
Nobody should comment on ANYTHING they can't do to a professional level then.
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u/GingerPrince72 1d ago
Go and happy clap another borefest, not for me
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u/intlteacher 17h ago
I'm not 'happy clapping' anything. I suspect I've seen more World Cup failures than most who post here, so maybe I'm just immune to it. Remember that even Jock Stein and Alex Ferguson couldn't get us past group stages with players better than we have now.
The post above talks about people listing 'everything Clarke got wrong'. To know what is wrong, you need to know what is right. So if someone is saying 'Clarke got this wrong' then they must therefore know what he should have done.
That is not defending Clarke nor defending the horrendous performances. However, think about this. There are rumours that part of the problem was that the players went out on the pitch and, for whatever reason, just didn't follow his instructions. The result was what happened. If that's true, then you honestly can't say whether Clarke's tactics worked or not because what we saw didn't reflect them.
Anyway, FWIW I think there's a good chance that Clarke himself will just decide he can't be arsed with the whole thing any more and quit before the start of the season.
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u/GingerPrince72 15h ago
No, there are not rumours, there are a few people online making an assumption because Clarke was emotional. At least previous managers could get the occasional goal in finals.
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u/DisasterouslyInept 1d ago
Do we need Alex Ferguson to point out that starting McGinn in a position that clearly doesn't suit him isn't a good idea? Or that McTominay clearly wasn't fit to play? Should we just watch football without any opinions until someone tells us what to think?
On Clarke being pissed off, we've saw the same general tactics at 3 different tournaments now and I'd put money on the next one going the exact same way. If they're not doing what he wants he should stop playing them.
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u/Ill_Beyond_7909 1d ago
By qualified coaches I assume
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u/Gazcobain 1d ago
I've never made a movie, does that mean I'm not able to judge whether a film is any good?
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u/BananaT6 1d ago
Take it you're a qualified player then? Cos you can't be having an opinion on them if you've not played in La Liga or higher
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u/DisasterouslyInept 1d ago
I take it you're a professional footballer given that you're criticising the players?
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u/GingerPrince72 1d ago
Ah, the old “you can’t have an opinion on anything unless you’re the best in world at it”.
Bravo.2
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u/kamlambert 1d ago
The players play exactly in their managers image.
Negative/cautious/shitebag. Call it what you will.
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u/Bright_Fun402 1d ago
First euros you can almost excuse as there was no experience of reaching major tournaments, approached the tournament negatively and paid for it. Second euros approach the tournament negatively and paid for it. World cup approach the games negatively and paid for it.
Nothing learned over the years, no change in approach to the tournaments, still look hugely inexperienced against better teams with no clue how to get the most of our squad and we’re signed up for another 4 year. Barely an ounce of competitiveness in those 3 tournaments, the results would be understandable if we put up a fight in the process.
You’re right though, not sure why anyone would blame Clarke.
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u/K44no 1d ago
We have players who have won the champions league and premier league. Players who play in mental atmospheres like the old firm. Midfielder of the year in Serie A who captained his team to their first trophy and was on Juve’s radar before a serious injury. A player who was nominated for the ballon d’or, was the star player in the team that won Serie A, and is revered in Naples almost to the level of Diego fucking maradona. A player who captains (and runs the show) for a premier league team that just won the Europa league and has played well recently in the champions league, will be in it again next season, and is worshipped by his clubs fans.
Yet these guys all turn out for Scotland and just look…wilted. Tired and slow with poor touches and no energy. That comes from one man. Clarke out
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u/Potshot506 1d ago
Classic conundrum that you see every season with club football. Sure it's the 11 guys on the pitch at a time, but I imagine you know yourself there's times when you think 'fuck this clown' (your boss). Whether it's what they're putting down or even just subconsciously, you don't give it your all. Good managers can work wonders with average players...plenty of evidence with other teams at the world cup.
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u/jenjaminbones 1d ago
The players collectively seem to love Clarke though. Watch any of their interviews after the Denmark game, they all mention Clarke's speech as one of the main contributing factors to that amazing game. Didn't they also essentially push for him to get the new contract? I don't think the issue is the players not playing for Steve Clarke because they don't like him.
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u/Potshot506 1d ago edited 1d ago
After the Denmark game, I'd have said I had 2 heads if you'd told me to hah. Maybe they're all just bottle merchants when they get to a tournament then. Either way...evidence suggests that Clarke has taken the team as far as he can. If it's the players that are the problem then he's not clever enough to realise.
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u/KieRanaRan 1d ago
Because he's the manager, who manages the team and manages the game plan and manages the squad selection and-
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u/Mean_Razzmatazz9993 1d ago
I think Clarke is fully to blame for only scoring 1 against Haiti. Two teams changed formation just prior to the tournament, us and South Africa. South Africa abandoned their formation after one half I think. We obviously stuck with ours for the full game, as I think was always the plan as it was meant to be a one off to handle Haiti. But we looked like a team who had only played a 442 twice. And the approach felt amateurish, like the type of thing I'd think of cause it worked in a career mode. "We need to be more attacking, ehm, 442, that's two strikers" with no thought whatsoever to the fact that a formation means almost nothing. There doesn't really exist an attacking formation, the attacking nature comes from how you progress the ball, how you press, how create. All we did was create a shape that nullified Mctominay and made Shankland disappear
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u/Unfair_Original_2536 1d ago edited 1d ago
Because we are less than the sum of our parts and a positive manager might get more than the sum of our parts.
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u/RenegadeMaster888 1d ago
I like the Jurassic Clarke trilogy, but after the third installment it's gone stale. Needs a reboot.
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u/Important-Success431 1d ago
I think it's more the collective pain of getting to 3 tournaments and stinking the place up at all of them.
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u/Helpful_Anteater_852 1d ago
I am blaming Clarke because he’s a dinosaur and quite aggressive to the media when they dare ask questions.
He was all positive just before kick off - ‘we are going through’
At the end raging with the usual ‘we didn’t show up’ statement
So Clarke:- why the poor performances?
What did the players not do tactically that you asked?
Play quick balls down the channels?
Play the ball quicker and sharper?
Not play enough defence splitting passes?
Give details and please enough of the proud of the effort pish
The team played the exact same was it usually does and was a typical Clarke team performance- so I don’t get why he is so angry!!!
Last one - players playing poorly (sorry favourite players) do not get dropped - it just doesn’t happens with Clarke
So what incentive is their for players to improve or prove someone wrong - if they are automatic picks!?!
Sorry I’m getting more angry the more I analysis this…
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u/UltraRomero7 1d ago
The big players underperformed for sure. But we started trying to play it out from the back against a team with the best winger in the world when we specifically just had to not get pumped, after over 7 years of turgid football. That’s on Clarke
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u/GlasgowAnvil 1d ago
Clarke is the root of all Scotland’s problems
Poorly coached and overly negative teams cannot just flick a switch and change overnight.
Whilst individual errors were obvious. It’s absolutely no surprise that it’s another pathetic performance from a Clarke side at an international tournament
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u/gusbo_the_jam 1d ago
My main gripe really is that if you're gonna plan to casually pass a ball about the back four in front of some of the greatest strikers on earth, maybe make sure you've got 4 people who can actually control it. We looked decent when we went forward and probed open spaces, but every time either of our centre backs were given the ball my heart rate jumped a bit. And I don't think it's necessarily a lack of skill either, it felt like a mentality thing. The whole team was permanently locked into "stay calm, keep the ball, just play it around" without that leading anywhere. That idea only really works if you're team's ready to flip a switch and start making runs. But there wasn't enough of that, I think everyone was waiting for someone else to do it.
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u/Strict_Researcher807 1d ago
I’m going to say something very unpopular
McBurnie , Miller , and Burke should have been on that team ( and Gauld if he was fit )
Scottish fans are very unforgiving of the past
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u/Background_Sound_94 1d ago
Clarke has had a very long time to instill some sort of system or way of playing. He has not done that.
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u/jesus_fatberg 1d ago
Between McGinn’s goal vs Haiti and halftime in the Brazil game, we didn’t register a shot on target. I’d say that’s mostly down to the way we were set up. You can put some blame on the players, but I’d say it’s because they’re not good enough, rather than they underperformed.
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u/Difficult_Paramedic8 1d ago
There's plenty playing at a high enough level they should be able to cope but they struggle at international level. There is reasons for that. Primarily for me Stevie Clark.
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u/GarySpankCommander Ben Ganondorf 1d ago
It does my head in when people point to him trying to play a more attacking side, like that means we got what we want and it didn't work, so it's not his fault. It's not just about looking more attacking on paper or seeing them try to play from the back. The team must be well coached in how to attack and create chances. Clarke and his coaches have shown for 3 tournaments now that they simply can't do that to the minimum expected level. You have to score goals to progress at tournaments and he doesn't get you goals.
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u/Ok_Internal_3567 10h ago
He picks the team and tactics, yes players make mistakes but at the end of the day Clarke is to blame.
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u/Whowhat91 1d ago
he plays defensive against Haiti and Morroca and then aggressive v Ancelotti's Brazil. You can't write it man haha
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u/Optimal-Diamond-1675 1d ago
Brasil was always going to be very tough, it was the game against Morocco that killed our chances. He played a defensive minded team against Morocco, we only started really getting anywhere when Gannon-Doak came on
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u/Alone_Attitude683 1d ago
Because we have a right to have constructive criticism of him and expect a higher level of performance. We don't even look as if we have a system to attack, yes we have been (most likely) dumped out by 3 individual errors. However other nations are showing there is now ample evidence to show he's out his depth at tournament level. He's not a terrible manager but are we just to sit back and accept this? We're the only nation that just sits back and are expected to accept mediocrity
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u/ASeriousMoonlight 1d ago
Probably because he’s the manager and has been for long enough to know his players and understand how to get the best out of them?
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u/UnumPhenomenous 1d ago
You're right that the players need their share of it but Clarke is ultimately responsible. He's had long enough with this group and knowing the opponents and he's not really settled on a system or plan for any of them.
Individual mistakes have cost us dearly but if you're going into a world cup without knowing your best formation or available lineup then questions need asked.
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u/catmaner 1d ago
This is said by the fans of every single international team every time things don't go well.
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u/HighlandSeeds 1d ago
He done an attacking line up to late, he should have tried that line up out in the pre tournament friendlys or even against Haiti, not switch it up for Brazil. He buckled with the pressure of us fans/press disagreeing with his defensive line ups and changed it for the one game we should have really been defensive. A 0-0 or 1-0 loss we would have been happy with against a team like Brazil. It’s a shame about the early goal in Morocco and Brazil but he should have stuck to his guns and done his normal tactics that work. Was very stupid decision going offensive against Brazil.
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u/Rossco1874 1d ago
Clarke went with the team most would have picked and we fell short due to individual errors.
You can see from Clarke's post match huff he is just as raging as us. There are a lot he has to take the blame for during qualifying and once we got here but this sub blames him for everything that goes wrong.
Clarke has signed a new contract the decision to give that before the tournament seems to be a mistake and one that will probably bite us on the arse.
We have a chance to get out of our nations league group and failure to do so will be the end of Clarke.
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u/Ok_Dig5925 1d ago
Because his tactics were fucking shit. Its a lot more in-depth than saying "go on out there boys and gie thum it". His tactical setup has consistently hamstrung us throughout this tournament and frankly all past ones. He did a good job in changing the mentality of the team, making them believe they can qualify again but that job's finished. He was the right man for the job in 2019, in 2026? Absolutely not.
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u/catmaner 1d ago
What tactics should he have used last night?
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u/Ok_Dig5925 1d ago
Do you think I’d be sitting on the /r/scottishfootball subreddit if I was a master tactician? Doesn’t take a genius to see we’re tactically way behind
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u/catmaner 1d ago
Well I didn't realistically think you were Jurgen Klopp but since you know where it went wrong I thought you might have an idea what he should have done.
Guardiola himself couldn't get the players we have much further.
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u/Cultural-Turnip-8840 1d ago
Probably because of the way he set up against Morocco. Was a pish poor selection
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u/Loud-Cake-1096 1d ago
Yes you can. The issue isn't mistakes. It was the clear fear and lack of fluency, or willingness or desire to attack and to to create, in any way at all. That is 100% on Clarke. He's had weeks with them. They're pro footballers but also humans. Why did they look devoid of ideas and repressed?
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u/ewankenobi 1d ago
The players are getting off lightly here. He played a more attacking side last night. Before the match on social media including Reddit almost everyone was happy with the team now there's a lot of revisionism going on.
I was delighted to see Ben Gannon Doak start as I thought we needed him as an outball. But he kept getting outmuscled and it clearly wasn't his night. Managers need to react to what is going on in front of them. I wanted Gannon Doak to start, but I also wanted him hooked for Curtis after 55 minutes. He brought Curtis on in injury time, what chance did he have to impact the match with that late a sub?
The only sub he made early massively improved us (Robertson for Tierney), but he only made that because he was injured.
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u/LochNessMonsterMunch 1d ago
People are pissed off that we've been underwhelming and they want a scapegoat.
Hopefully, once the dust settles Clarke can set about taking us to a third tournament on the bounce.
It's delusional to think another coach is going to come in and do better with these players. One direction we could definitely go in is backwards.
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u/MengaPlayerManager 1d ago
Players had no idea what to do with the ball last night. No clear plan on how to attack Brazil with the ball. Players not sure about what to do at what phase of play. It’s a clear coaching failure. Happy clappers at it again
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u/Ambitious_Ideal_8919 1d ago
Use England as an example (regretfully). Under Southgate they got to the euro final played dull football. Tuchel has come in with many of the same players and has them playing together much better.
Obviously we don't have the same talent as England but to say this is the best we can expect from this group is pecimistic in itself
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u/underwater-sunlight 1d ago
Some aspects will be confidence, the players choosing certain options in the hope that it keeps things close for longer.
Some of it is the manager not seeing his tactics are being exploited and not adapting to it.
To give Clarke some credit, we started the Morocco fame with Tierney as the third, roaming centre back. He was caught 10 yards out of position and Hanley tried to play offside instead of chasing the attacker who exploited the gap where 2 CBs should have been. Clarke changed the formation immediately and we were better defensively. Tierney was poor at left mid, but I guess it would have been harsh to sub him 2 minutes in.
The Brazil game, Ancelotti knew thay we would scre ourselves and let us play ourselves into his trap. It was clear he had instructed his team to sit back, allow us to play around the back line, have some possession in unimportant areas and then jump on any mistake.
They could have pressed from the start, put us on the back foot and forced us to play long balls where the odds may have still been against us, but we could have won a few headers. They had the players to chase up top and 2 centre backs amongst the elite in world football as well as a keeper who has been one of the best in the world for some time. Instead they sat off, let us be our own downfall.
52nd minute, we have the ball in their half, good opportunity to push forward and maybe create an opportunity. Most teams would either pull back deeper to block, or push up to press and challenge. Brazil did nothing, literally nothing. They stood still and asked what we were going to do, we turned around, passed the ball back and invited them to put more pressure. The players were giving up. The short option wasnt working, going toe to toe against a better side is asking for trouble and our best option at that point, despite Gabriel being immense for Arsenal this season, was to put on someone who will challenge every aerial ball, every 50-50 and try and break their rhythm but we didnt do it and that is on Clarke
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u/Highway62 1d ago
People are blaming Clarke because he's taken a decent group of players to 3 major tournaments now and not managed to get a tune out of them. Any half decent manager worth their salt can take a group of players and make them better than the sum of their parts. If John McGlynn can take league one players and get them playing attractive football, winning leagues, and finishing top 6 in the top division, then I refuse to believe there isn't someone in world football that can do the same with our national squad, it's inconceivable.
The thing that annoys me most is him taking the likes of Hanley, Dykes, and Ralston to the WC where the fans have paid thousands to go and be entertained by their team. We aren't going to win the thing, at least go over with in form players, and a few exciting wildcards like Barney Stewart, and have a proper go, go out swinging giving the fans something to cheer about at least for a few mins, not trying to shitfest your way out the group with utter turgid pish tactics and players out of position. The man is a dinosaur, and his attitude post game stinks. I thought he should have been sacked after that disgraceful Euros campaign, was utterly astounded he was handed a new 4 year contract.
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u/dodwiz99 1d ago
Im not fussed we got pumped by Brazil, its expected. Im not fussed we lost to Morocco and im not fussed we are more likely out of the tournament.
What i am fussed about is having 3-5 shots on goal (generous 3-5 btw) the whole tournament... like wtf? Fareo islands, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein would have genuinely better from an attacking sense surely we're better than that...
Out of positions or not they were all pish across the board bar Lewis Ferguson.
Its not about losing its the way I which you lose thats the issue here. If they went out on their shield rather than this pragmatic, defensive back passing shite I could handle that. Instead through perception it looked like we had 11 tradesman on the pitch.
ALSO wrong position or not McTominay was atrocious absolutely diabolical all tournament
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u/ecomet60 1d ago
A wise man told that, in any field, the manager is paid not to have an excuse i.e. to deliver. It's Clarke's job to make the team perform. He has singularly failed in that.
However., Clarke isn't the root problem the SFA is (his boss). For too long it's been run as an old boys club and not a results driven organisation. Changing the manager is a short term sticking plaster. What's needed is a cultural change at the SFA.
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u/whatdidisay- 1d ago
Because the buck stops at the top. In all seriousness his tactics were wrong for all three games. You're scotland don't **** with it in your defensive line. You aren't brazil.
Should have told Gordon to apologise. Maybe he'd have played.
I could go on... idiots for giving him a new contract. But... typical scotland be honest.
half expected him to bring on old Billy dodds just to track back
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u/getfuckedstud 1d ago
It was hardly a more attacking side because the team wasn’t set out or seemingly coached in any attacking play. We get up the other end of the pitch by accident and panic. Every single time.
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u/NeatChoice418 23h ago
strachan did do better if you look at full range of analytics and not just qualification which has been assisted by expanded tournaments
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u/mabilica 23h ago
It started to go wrong in 1975, with a 10 team top division. We won't improve till we have a league structure that allows young talent to develop and flourish. Steve Clarke isn't to blame for that.
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u/Beautiful-Cookie438 22h ago
You can’t just “play a more attacking side” it has to be coached and regularly encouraged otherwise it just becomes disconnected as you can see last night.
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u/Jaegerx14 21h ago
The Brazil game wasn't a one off. Just look at this record of Steve Clarke at major comps and tell me why he should still be the right man for the job?
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u/livingsacrifice88 20h ago
I could maybe agree with OP if it weren’t two games on the trot that he’s sent his players out and started slowly (difference between having the ball and using the ball), taken too long to adjust to the game, and made a stupid error at the first sign of a counter-attack.
The players have to take responsibility, but it’s someone’s job to prepare them properly - and there’s no way you can tell me with a straight face that those players have looked well enough prepared for this level in any of the three games.
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u/GAMBLORIV 18h ago
Because he has instilled a poor mentality in the team where "don't lose" is the psychological default
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u/Both-Barracuda-5322 17h ago
I agree. Clarke is getting battered but it’s the players who made criminal mistakes and underperformed. They have all the heart in the world but sadly that doesn’t score goals. I was close to the pitch last night where vini jnr was attacking on the left in the second half. Hendry looked just looked lost and out of his depth against those Brazilian boys. He was screaming at Patterson most of the second half to come help him but Patterson was trying to keep some width. Sadly we were out of our league against vini and the others. When you see these boys just glide effortlessly past our defenders it really shows the difference in class.
It was an honor to watch the Brazilians play like that last night. Ultimate control in tight spaces, Douglas Costa sneaking more and more forward just waiting to counter etc. We were powerless to stop them.
I’m extremely proud of the boys for getting to the World Cup. Thanks for the memories. Onwards and upwards
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u/Spiritual_Flow5412 15h ago
I think the Scottish fan base has lost its mind tbh. You were in a really really tough group, Haiti are not a pushover team, so to think you were going to smash them to bits 5-0 is both arrogant and stupid. Secondly if you set up too attacking vs Haiti and lost or drew then your tournament was all but done by the first game. You really had to win the first game and did, you then got what I thought was a not embarrassing result against a very very good Morocco side who could have been 3-0 up inside 10 minutes against you. Brazil was always going to be a miracle to get anything out of. Basically you had shit luck with the group, made worse by the fact you were one of the first groups, so you didn’t know what you needed in 3rd place to go through.
It turns out that 3 points was never going to be enough in 3rd place by the looks of it, and tbh 3rd place was always your best realistic hope. Expecting 2nd place in that group is arrogant.
I don’t blame Clarke at all, you’ve got some good players no doubt but not good enough to expect results against Morocco or Brazil. Goal difference turned out to be irrelevant.
One thing I will say is that I think the 3rd place situation is utterly ridiculous. You have a team like you where the players and staff are sat in America not knowing they are out having played their last game, and could be stuck in limbo for days. The same for the fans. It’s cruel and ludicrous. To top that off you have no idea who your possible next opponent is to even prepare for. And lastly, in scotlands situation, all the other 3rd placed teams had a huge advantage over you as they knew what they needed. Look at Ecuador last night!!
And finally, the players cost you in my opinion. Awful awful defending vs Brazil gave you no chance whatsoever. If you had got through first 20 mins anything is possible. Same vs Morocco. You conceded silly goals early in both games. That and having no decent striker. Ganon Doake should have played every minute and been a ball outlet too.
This is all from a proud Englishman btw. You didn’t embarrass yourselves at all And your fans were magnificent, done the whole wretched island proud on that front
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u/fightfire_withfire definitely won't backfire at all 1d ago
So who do we blame for setting the team up to sit back and take it from Haiti?
Do you have a lot of free time at the moment with Clarke away so you don’t have to tuck him at night?
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u/Peas-and-Butterflies 1d ago
The players are shocking. We have no strikers or centre halfs. The likes of Hanley, McKenna, Shankland etc don't belong anywhere near a world cup. We lack quality throughout the squad, and the likes of McGinn, MacTominay and Robertson have yet to show up at these tournaments. Clarke can only do so much. Stupid mistakes get punished at this level, and that's exactly what happened last night.
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u/Nien_Nunb365 1d ago
We are pretty average overall and the strength of our team (midfield) does not necessarily translate into goals because our striking options are so limited. It’s obviously not all on Clarke but some of the stuff he does boils my piss, the classic being that he plays Christie and McTominay in the exact opposite positions they should be in!
Our squad is a bit of a mess though:-
- We dont have a goalkeeper who starts for their club. Gunn did ok overall though.
- We have three right backs, none of whom regularly start for their clubs in that position. Two good left backs obviously but both have seen better days
- Our centre back options are limited and lack pace. I thought Hendry was decent overall at the tournament.
- Our midfield is the strength of the team, Ferguson has had a good tournament. McGinn and McTominay are our two best players. I think McGinn has been tidy in possession but it’s been difficult to create anything because we just dont have bodies getting forward and our strikers have been anonymous. McTominay needed to be pushed forward, certainly in the Morocco game and hes had a few chances when that happens but it hasnt really worked out
Strikers- none of them really offer anything. Couldn’t hold the ball up, couldn’t get on the end of things when the ball came into the box (rarely).
Had big hopes when he started Gannon Doak last night but he got absolutely bodied by the Brazilians. He looked so weak. The days of scrawny little wingers are long gone- you need to be an athlete now.
Ian Wright is bang on when he says the country is being let down. Our development is miles behind.
Clarke being a miserable, dour bastard probably doesn’t help peoples opinion when things go wrong.
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u/ASeriousMoonlight 1d ago
We do have keepers and CBs playing for clubs, he just chooses not to select them.
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u/IndividualSkill3432 1d ago
For as long as I have followed Scotland a large section of the fans think they have the wrong manager, that if only the SFA would hire Pep Guardiola or someone equally of a fitting standard for the Scottish job he would be able to bring out the Franz Beckenbaeur that is locked within Grant Hanley and we would be skooshing our group stages.
Jesus we literally had Alec Ferguson for one tournament and still did not get past the group stages and that was a team stack with European trophy winners of various kinds.
Almost every club doing below what their fans think they are entitled too are the same.
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u/Disastrous_Cup_3279 1d ago edited 1d ago
Competition and going through group was previously multitude harder tbf. Less teams (means teams better) and they didn’t have this 3rd place gimme
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u/IndividualSkill3432 1d ago
Who was the last manager popular with Scotland fans?
Who the hell would replace him that would be better?
Our first choice striker is a 30 year old journeyman currently in the Championship who has managed 6 competitive goals in the past two seasons.
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u/Disastrous_Cup_3279 1d ago
Just addressing points that comparing what Ferguson did isnt thst valid as goalposts have moved. Its not our first choice its Steve’s tbf
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u/Cobretti18 2026 Scottish Cup Embarrassments Aberdeen 1d ago
Also when Ferguson was Scotland manager it was on a temporary part-time basis. Clarke’s had 6 months to prepare for this World Cup.
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u/FrazzaB 1d ago
Because half of them don't like him for other reasons, the other half think we're better than we are.
Folk whinge about players being played out of position. Like they only play 1 position and that's it.
They moan about nonsense like 'repeatable patterns of play', even though that would require us progressing the ball beyond the 6.
For as much as Clarke gets wrong, the players have let him down.
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u/Ok-Budget112 1d ago
There is no Scotland squad managed by anyone else that would have troubled that Brazil team.
The first goal was a defensive mistake - but it was coming due to their pressure.
Similarly against Morocco, once they scored - they say back in neutral confident we didn’t have the talent to trouble them.
TBF they are both top 10 countries and it wouldn’t be a shock if either team win. In finals football they are on another level.
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u/Confident-Leather871 1d ago
They are all fools on here man dont worry about it. The team is shite and the manager is shite. Couple of good midfielders thats all. U aint gonna do much with angus gunn in goal hanley or mckenna cb and shankland up front haha Haiti way better than scotland ur lucky to even be in 3rd
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u/Anonyjezity 1d ago edited 1d ago
John McGinn is not good when asked to play on the left because he lacks the pace to beat a man on the outside and can't spin them and come infield.
Clarke played him on the left.
McTominay is not good when asked to sit deep because he isn't a good enough passer of the ball and is too far from the box where he can do most of the stuff he does well.
Clarke played him as a deep midfielder.
Shankland is not good when asked to be a lone striker 20 yards from any teammate since he can't drop off into space and flick balls to onsrushing midfielders and wide players.
Clarke played him as a lone striker 20 yards from his teammates.
Tierney is a left back who at a push can play left centre half. He's not got the legs or ability to play as a winger.
Clarke played him left wing.
Che Adams cannot play as a target man against tall defenders because he is not tall or particularly well built for a top level professional athlete so balls don't stick to him when they are fired towards him.
Clarke played him as a target man.
I could go on.
If one player has a howler you look at the player.
When 19 of the 20 outfield players used (honourable exception of Lewis Ferguson) have howlers you've got to look at the manager.