Clarke still thankful to Gullit for coaching job

SCOTLAND manager Steve Clarke admits he will forever be grateful to Ruud Gullit for helping to launch his career in the dugout.

Clarke concedes he was in limbo when he retired as a player in summer 1998 following over 11 years at Chelsea. It was then that Clarke joined Newcastle as Gullit’s No.2, having been managed by the Dutch icon at Stamford Bridge.

Saltcoats-born Clark later become No.2 with the Blues, West Ham and Liverpool before taking on his first managerial role at West Brom in 2012.

Former St Mirren defender Clarke also had two hugely successful years as Kilmarnock manager before taking the Scotland reins last May

The 56-year-old said: “I would have been approaching 30 before I considered, ‘What am I going to do next?’ And suddenly between 30 and 35 you have a lot of thinking and a lot of different avenues to look at.

“When I was younger I had a slightly different path into the game than most people in that I worked in a factory for four years and played part-time – so I served my time as an apprentice as an instrument technician.

“By the time you’ve had your football career you’re so far out of date that to go back to that trade would have been impossible.

“I looked at all the trades and thought maybe the best way forward was to stick in at the game. And I was quite fortunate in that I got an invite from Ruud Gullit just as I finished my career to go and help him at Newcastle and that sort of made my mind up.”