TRUST STEVIE TO GET US OUT OF THE ROUGH
RORY MCKENZIE still looks back with a smile on the Spanish golfing trip that got Steve Clarke’s Kilmarnock swinging again.
And the Rugby Park veteran reckons his old gaffer can have the last laugh over his critics by leading Scotland out of the rough and through to the Euro 24 knockout stage.
The national team boss and his side have found themselves heading out of bounds lately after a run of seven games without a win.
That’s not quite as bad as the eight-game streak Clarke’s Killie side endured just three months before he quit to take up his Hampden gig in the summer of 2019.
McKenzie reckons the key to halting that and driving on to the Ayrshire outfit’s historic third-place finish that season was a Tenerife trip where Clarke gave his players permission to nick off for 18 holes – and perhaps even a visit to the 19th.
This time, though, there’s barely time for a quick hack down the back nine, never mind a boozy get-together, before Clarke takes his team to Germany. But McKenzie is certain his old coach is still the perfect man to ensure Scotland make the cut at this summer’s tournament.
The 30-year-old, who this week agreed a new one-year deal at Rugby Park, said: “I remember that eight-game run we had without a win.
“After the eighth game we actually all went to Tenerife. Steve took us away for three days.
“I still talk about the trip now with Gary Dicker and Stuart Findlay. After we came back we set off on a run that eventually took us to third. “It was just such a good trip having struggled for a bit and it had a major impact on how we finished the season. “What did we get up to? Well I was golfing! “I actually went for a round with Steve, Kris Boyd and Dan Bachmann. But it was one of those ones where you were told to turn up for training, do your work – and then it was, ‘See you tomorrow!’
“I think that just helped release the pressure.
“We came home, played St Mirren on the Monday night and scored a last-minute winner through Liam Millar.
“From there we just kicked on, so it’s a trip I remember fondly!”
Asked if Clarke should consider dusting down the clubs again, McKenzie grinned and said: “What, go to Tenerife?
“Maybe not. But look, with Scotland we’re now qualifying for big tournaments and that’s enough in itself to show we should keep faith in Steve.
“Look where we’ve been in the last couple of years.
“I’m in no real place to talk about Steve Clarke and the Scotland squad but I have full faith in what Steve is all about.”
Clarke looked downcast after his Scotland side’s 4-0 hiding from the Netherlands was followed by Tuesday night’s depressing defeat to Northern Ireland.
But McKenzie said: “I heard him saying after the Dutch game that it affects him a hell of a lot more than it does the players.
“But when I worked under him here, it was all about, ‘On to the next game’. I don’t think he’ll be too bogged down by the last two games.
“Like he said, you don’t want to peak in March, you want to peak in June and I think that’s one of his best traits.
“He can move on from a disappointment and make big decisions when it matters.”