Clarke has to get tough and play by the rules
STEVE CLARKE has been left with no choice now. To do his job, he has to take a tougher line with England’s top clubs. Scotland call-offs have become a ridiculous affair. The time has surely come to drop the nice-guy routine and invoke FIFA rules. Clarke (right) has a decent reputation in England. It’s not impossible he could work down south again one day. But he won’t land a gig as manager of Arsenal. He’ll never return to Liverpool as boss. The Manchester United job? Not a prayer.
Where those clubs are concerned, he has nothing to lose either personally or professionally. Bluntly, the only thing he should be concerning himself with now is the Nations League play-offs in March. And preparations for those two games are being undermined by the contempt of the major clubs for Scotland’s preparations. A fit Kieran Tierney won’t play against Cyprus tonight because Arsenal didn’t fancy it. Jurgen Klopp surely isn’t too keen to see Andrew Robertson playing in unimportant games against Cyprus and Kazakhstan when his ankle is iffy. And Scott McTominay can’t move a muscle unless Manchester United give him the all-clear first. None of this is the fault of the players. The clubs pay them exorbitant wages and they do what they’re told. But if players can’t play for him, Clarke is duty bound to inform England’s top managers that they can’t play for them in their next league game either. The powers are there; it’s time to use them. The downside to doing so is obvious. If players sit out a game for their clubs they might not get back in the team. But the manager of Scotland can’t fret over individual insecurities. Or pander to the chairmen of Arsenal and
Liverpool. It’s his job to revive a national team currently being battered from pillar to post by abusive clubs. And until he adopts a stronger stance, that won’t change any time soon. This week, it emerged that George Square in Glasgow will be transformed into a Euro 2020 fan zone next summer. With Hampden set to host three group games and a knockout round match, an estimated 200,000 visitors will flock to Scotland’s biggest city. And Clarke’s ability to field his best team in March will be the difference between Scots fans going to their own party. Or sitting outside the rope, watching the rich kids play.