Clarke leaves strong Scotland legacy but exit brings sense of relief

For much of Saturday afternoon, the skies above Charlotte were a dirty shade of grey, with heavy rain, strong winds, and frequent thunder and lightning. If Steve Clarke was looking out of his hotel room, that biblical scene would have been the ideal backdrop for a bombshell. Within minutes of Scotland being officially eliminated from the World Cup, news of the head coach's departure emerged. Unlike the weather, there was no warning.

The manner of his exit was typical of the man: low-key, no fuss, no interviews as yet, no need in his mind to explain his thoughts any more than he already has. The length and detail in his valedictory statement suggests this was in the pipeline for a day or two, but there is no word on why he has taken this decision. And why so abruptly? Why not get back home, take a break and think about it? Snap judgments and emotional reactions are not Clarke traits, so why has he done this now? The players did not know this was coming, and neither did many of the Scottish FA board. A month ago, these same people announced, with some fanfare, that Clarke was staying for four more years.

Mixed reactions to Clarke's tenure

There is a constituency of football folk who did not want him to continue, and they kept things civil. There is another constituency that just does not like the man and never has. He incensed some Rangers fans when mocking them for sectarian singing when he was manager of Kilmarnock—he said they were stuck in the dark ages—and a chunk of them have neither forgotten nor forgiven. And now he is gone.

His legacy is a really good one, but there is a sense of relief that there is going to be a new voice and fresh ideas now, as long as a good appointment is made, which is very far from a given. Seven years is an eternity. There is some pain for the Scottish FA that the manager they committed to for four more years only last month has now walked. For the Clarke critics—the balanced and the bonkers—there is an element of being careful what you wish for because there are no outstanding, and realistic, candidates out there. The denizens of Hampden are under significant pressure to get the right manager from a limited pool. Scotland have six Nations League games between September and November.

Clarke's impact on Scottish football

Clarke will be just a dot on the landscape by then, but he has been a significant force for Scotland for the longest time, a manager who took the team out of the wilderness but never to the promised land of knockout major championship football. That was his goal in America and he failed. Three major championships in seven years, though. A whole host of good times—amid plenty of bad. Scotland toiled at all three of those tournaments but they got there. People can scoff at that now, but they have short memories. Those qualifications brought many millions of pounds into the coffers of the Scottish FA. The nation had forgotten what it was like to reach that level before Clarke arrived. A desperate fatalism had taken root in the game. There was no hope, only cynicism.

Two games before he took over, Scotland lost 3-0 against Kazakhstan. It was pathetic. In his first game in charge, a scratchy and late win against Cyprus, a crowd of 31,277 turned up at Hampden. In subsequent home games, 32,432 turned up for the 2-1 loss to Russia, 25,524 were there to see Belgium win 4-0, 20,699 were at Hampden to see them beat San Marino and 19,515 were in attendance when they beat Kazakhstan. Clarke referred to this era in his farewell message. Bar a loyal band of Tartan Army members, there was total indifference. The peaks and troughs under Clarke were quite something. He was a manager with a capacity to bounce back.