For much of Saturday afternoon, the skies above Charlotte were a dirty shade of grey, the rain bucketing down, the wind blowing hard, thunder and lightning seen and heard every minute or so. 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 dumped out of the World Cup, the news of the head coach's departure dropped. 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 judgements and emotional reactions are not Clarke traits, so why has he done this now?
“Steve Clarke quits as Scotland manager hours after World Cup elimination, leaving a strong legacy but a sense of relief.”
The players didn't 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. Now he's gone. His legacy is a really good one—he took Scotland out of the wilderness after decades of failure—but he never got past the group stage of a tournament. And there is a sense of relief that there's 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.
There's a constituency of football folk who didn't want him to continue and they kept things civil. There's another constituency that just don't like the man and never have. 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.
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.