Clarke expects to disappoint ‘four or five’ before Euros
◆ Scotland manager is ready to make tough calls ◆ Thrilled to have Hanley back – ‘one of my men’ ◆ He admits he’ll spend this week fearing injuries
Now 60, check-ups are an advisable part of Steve Clarke’s health care regime, more so if you bear the added responsibility of carrying several million people’s hopes. The Scotland manager underwent a preeuro 2024 medical on Monday at Hampden. Although he is yet to receive the results, he has issued some reassurance for the nation: “I did alright, I didn’t fall off the treadmill!”
Clarke’s fitness is important of course. Equally so is the well-being of his players. While some are on the way back, including Craig Gordon and Kieran Tierney, others are absent, with versatile fullback Aaron Hickey perhaps giving most cause for concern ahead of the now imminent Euro 2024 finals. The talented 21-year-old has not been included in the latest squad named by Clarke for the forthcoming friend lies against the Netherlands and Northern Ireland. He might not reappear for Brentford until late April at the earliest.
Others might well drop out of contention in the weeks ahead as the action becomes more frantic and issues are resolved at both ends of leagues up and down the country, and elsewhere. The manager might need to undergo some more tests before it’s all over.
All being well, however, Clarke will be given a clean bill of health along with all of his players ahead of this summer. If so, and factoring in firstchoice options such as Hickey and Callum Mcgregor, also currently sidelined, how many might Clarke expect to have to disappoint from the 25 listed for the upcoming pair of games? “Probably four, going through every area of the pitch, maybe five,” he said, studying the sheet in front of him.
It might not be Clarke's pulse rate that needs checked, more his heart. Is it sufficiently icy enough to make the kind of dispassionate decisions required in this scenario? Evidence has already suggested that he is. He cast Andrew Considine aside before Euro 2020, Liam Palmer too. Clarke also has a trump card to play. When he says he knows how the players feel, he really does. He was named in the provisional squad for Italia 90 before being axed before the tournament itself by Andy Roxburgh. “It’s going to be dependent upon fitness,” explained the manager. “You can’t see into the future so you don’t know what’s going to happen. You might lose somebody you don’t want to lose.
“It’s going to be a big decision. It’s going to have a big impact on some of these young lads’ lives. But I’ve lived it – I’ve been there – and I understand it. I’ll be sorry for them but football can be quite a brutal business at times. Maybe they don’t make it but they make the next tournament and it would be nice to think we could be at the next tournament as well.”
This might not apply to the admittedly evergreen but now 41-year-old goalkeeper Gordon. Clarke’s Hampden MOT appointment meant it was convenient to head down to Cappielow for the Scottish Cup quarter-final tie between Morton and Hearts later that evening, where he knew Gordon would be playing for only the third time since recovering from a horrific double leg break.
In addition, he was curious to assess the state of another national treasure – Cappielow. “[I wanted to] see if anything about the place had changed,” said someone who could recall the dear old place from his days with St Mirren, Morton’s great rivals. “It hadn’t changed!”
Gordon was also reassuringly recognisable. Clarke was not about to start over-enthusing about saves one would expect such an experienced keeper to make. “A save is a save,” said Clarke. Nevertheless, a Gordon stop from Lewis Strapp in the second half could probably be included in the ‘back
It’s going to be a big decision. It’s going to have a big impact on some of these young lads’ lives
to his best’ category. “The one he made with his foot would be a save that kept the game in Hearts’ favour at that time because if Morton had scored it could have been a different story,” noted Clarke.
As the countdown continues to June 14, the manager's options have been further augmented by the return of dependable Grant Hanley. His absence from the international squad has spanned almost a year. Not since the famous night against Spain at Hampden has Clarke been able to call upon the Norwich City defender’s services. Clarke has been counting down the days to his return, with the defender sustaining an Achilles injury in his next outing after the Spain win against Blackburn Rovers.
Even at this early stage it’s easy to imagine that, in the manager’s mind, it’s the sturdy Doonhamer who will occupy the place in the middle of a three-man central defensive line-up with Kieran Tierney to his left in the tournament’s opening game against Germany. Perhaps only the right centre-half position is up for grabs. “I have always liked Grant, his style of play,” said Clarke. “He is a proper old-fashioned centre back. I call him one of my men. You know what you are getting week in, week out with Grant.”
On-loan Real Sociedad left back Tierney hasn’t played for his country since the 3-1 defeat by England in September due to a hamstring injury that has disrupted his move to La Liga. Clarke was happy to relay the news that he is on the way back. “He has started one of the games and has played 85 minutes,” he said. “He has had a few games on the bench. He is okay, he is good.”
With skipper Andy Robertson also restored, things are coming together again – until they fall apart. “This weekend is the worst!” said Clarke, with players due to start gathering in Glasgow on Sunday night. “I just sit slumped with my head in my hands, thinking, ‘don’t get injured, don’t get injured!’”