Final cut will be the deepest for Clarke
Scots boss faces ‘toughest’ task to finalise Euros squad
THE awkward business of telling players they are not required for selection on any given day is a chore Steve Clarke learned to live with during his time as a club manager. More often than not, the bad news dispensed to his players at Reading, West Brom and Kilmarnock could be offset with the promise of another opportunity in a few days time.
This summer, there will be no way of sweetening the pill.
Naming a squad for an international finals, Scotland’s first in over two decades, will present Clarke with a selection issue to dwarf all others.
Never before and never again will the 57-year-old have encountered a dilemma like it.
To borrow a popular phrase, this is a truly once-in-a-generation event this summer. And while the collective euphoria generated by the play-off win over Serbia will sustain until then, there will be a few broken hearts along the way.
‘There’s going to be a helluva lot of good players who miss out,’ admits the national coach. ‘It’s the hardest part of the job. One of the toughest parts of being a football manager is picking a starting XI and leaving people on the bench.
‘Even harder than that is leaving people out of your squad altogether.’
Despite enjoying a long and productive playing career at first St Mirren then Chelsea, Clarke only appeared six times for his country, those caps fanned out from his 1987 debut against Hungary to a 1994 friendly against the Netherlands.
Scotland qualified for the 1990 World Cup and the European Championships two years later but Clarke didn’t win a place in either finals squad. No stranger to rejection, he can be counted upon to be sensitive in handling those players who may miss out.
Certain squad members look vulnerable. With Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney fit and firing on all cylinders is there really any need to take Greg Taylor as a third left-back?
Always available for selection, Kenny McLean may have struck the vital penalty in the play-off shoot-out against Israel but has been in and out of the team for Championship pacesetters Norwich City this season.
And while Andy Considine would be a hugely-popular choice after stepping in so effectively as a 33-year-old debutant this autumn, sentiment won’t guarantee Aberdeen’s ‘stag in drag’ his chance to boogie at the finals.
The introduction of triple headers has made Clarke accustomed to naming enlarged 26-man squads. Come the summer, he’ll need to settle on a neat 23.
He continued: ‘That is something I am going to have to address. I can have some empathy with them, if not sympathy.
‘Because I have been in a similar situation where I was very close to being involved in the Italia ’90 squad. I was in the final group who went to a pre-tournament camp in Italy and I missed out on selection.
‘So I am going to understand how they feel. I am sure they will all take it in the right way, whoever doesn’t make it.
‘But, listen, there is a long way to go before I pick that squad.’
By The Mail on Sunday’s reckoning, there are 17 players who, provided they stay fit and healthy, seem certain to be in the final pool.
Importantly, the opening of the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifiers in March will give a competitive chance for the remaining six places to be contested.
Games against Austria, Israel and the Faroe Islands will have bite and Clarke hopes to be clearer in his mind at their conclusion.
‘Injuries permitting, you probably have the nucleus of the squad that is going to be there,’ he said. ‘But there are places up for grabs.
‘I think that’s got to be a motivating factor for everybody who thinks they have a chance of being in the squad.
‘I’ve got to pick a larger squad for the World Cup qualifiers in March.
‘We are in a group where all the teams will be thinking there are points to be won, so it will be competitive.’
Clarke admits that the delay to the Nations League play-off fixtures caused by Covid had facilitated the change in tactics that helped Scotland over the line through those tense penalty shoot-out victories over Israel and Serbia.
Having settled on a workable 3-5-2 formation that accommodates Tierney and Robertson and successfully blooded Lyndon Dykes in the main striker’s role, the task now is to try and improve things around the edges.
Ryan Fraser showed real promise operating as a second striker and will be included if fit.
Leigh Griffiths (below) should also claim a place if he can keep himself on the straight and narrow for the rest of the season. However, the claims of Oli McBurnie, Oli Burke and Lawrence Shankland have not been particularly strong. Hibs’ Kevin Nisbet could make a late pitch but Clarke may decide to add someone like Southampton’s Che Adams, uncapped yet eligible through a grandparent. Clarke is, however, wary of parachuting in too many players who were not involved in the onerous qualification bid. ‘Every footballer is very ambitious, so if they think you can add one or two players who would make the squad and team better, then they would accept that,’ he said.
‘But I think if you go down the route of bringing in five, six, seven or eight players then it would be really unfair on the players who got us there.
‘The harmony of the squad, the togetherness, is a big thing. One of the things I’ve tried to do since I got the job is keep the nucleus of the squad the same. I don’t see that changing, to be honest.’
Clarke may also incorporate a young player or two. Ross McCrorie, David Turnbull and Lewis Ferguson are all playing regular club football and pushing for promotion from the Under-21 team.
Clarke continued: ‘We have a lot of good young players coming through, you have Billy Gilmour (Chelsea), David Turnbull (Celtic), Lewis Ferguson at Aberdeen, Ross McCrorie there, too, and Robby McCrorie at Livingston.
‘I have to get the balance right between improving the squad a little bit without making wholesale changes to a group of lads who have done fantastic.
‘When you think it’s been 23 years since we were last in a major tournament, these boys have got us there. They deserve the chance to play in that tournament.’