I’m gutted to lose Steve but he could not say no

KILMARNOCK chief Billy Bowie admits he couldn’t stand in the way of Steve Clarke’s desire to be the new Scotland manager.

On Sunday, the Rugby Park club secured their first third-place finish in Scotland’s top tier since 1966, qualifying for Europe for the first time since 2001.

By yesterday afternoon, they were searching for a new manager after the SFA named Clarke as the successor to Alex McLeish on a three-year contract.

The governing body agreed to a request by the Kilmarnock board to hold fire on naming their new boss until Sunday’s final home league game with Rangers was over.

Keen to take one last tilt at keeping the 55-year-old, Killie’s major shareholder offered to make Clarke one of the highest-paid managers in the club’s history during Rugby Park talks yesterday morning.

After finally conceding defeat last night, the Ayrshire transport tycoon told ‘It’s real mixed emotions for me. I’m gutted to lose Steve, but happy for him as well.

‘There have been things going back and forward with the SFA over the last couple of weeks.

‘The SFA have been under pressure to name a manager and we wanted to get our last game of the season out of the way. I told them that and they respected that.

‘I made it quite clear to them that it was always my intention to sit with Steve today and see what would work out best both for his future and for the future of the club.

‘We had to know what Steve’s take would be on the result on Sunday and the fans coming back. We genuinely hoped we could keep him. Sunday was a day of celebration for Kilmarnock FC.

‘As he said after the game, his trophy was the three stands being full of Kilmarnock fans.

‘But I was at the club at 10.30 this morning to meet Steve and we talked over a lot of things. Ultimately, he felt Scotland was an opportunity he had to take because it’s an honour to be the national team manager.

‘Steve made a decision and it was one we had to respect.’

Clarke will be unveiled to the media this morning, before sitting down to name a squad for the forthcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers with Cyprus and Belgium.

Bowie appointed Clarke at a time when Kilmarnock were deep in the relegation zone of the Premiership.

He leaves Kilmarnock looking forward to their first European tie in 18 years — and Bowie believes a process conducted by SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell and Alloa chairman Mike Mulraney has ended in the appointment of a man capable of steering the national team to their first major finals since 1998.

‘Steve will do a superb job because he is straight down the line,’ he said. ‘The players will respect him and they will do what they’re told.

‘He has a good squad of players there and he will do the same with the Scotland squad as he did with Kilmarnock.

‘He will gel them and bring out their qualities and get them playing better than they have. He takes players and he makes them better. I think there is a real chance he will get Scotland to the Euros now.’

From the high of the best league finish in 53 years, Killie will now return to the drawing board in the search for Clarke’s replacement.

Assistant manager Alex Dyer will remain No2, with the backroom staff staying put. Acknowledging that Clarke will be a tough act to follow, Bowie believes the new man will inherit some solid foundations.

‘We have raised the bar at Kilmarnock and we don’t want to let it slip,’ he said. ‘The good thing is we are keeping all the backroom staff.

‘Alex managed the team on Sunday and did a great job, looking at the result.’

Asked if Dyer could be a candidate to step up as manager, Bowie said: ‘Alex will stay second in charge. We will see what applicants we have coming in, but it should be quite clear that it’s someone to fill Steve’s position and they have to work with the backroom staff that’s there.

‘There is no panic here. We have a fantastic base for the new man to build on. Everything is there to build on Steve’s success.’