Andy Robertson urges Tartan Army and SFA to back Scotland boss Steve Clarke

ANDY ROBERTSON insists Scotland wouldn’t have qualified for back-to- back Euros without Steve Clarke.

And Robbo insists the under-pressure national team boss is still the man for the job.

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Clarke has faced huge criticism for recent results and performances.

His side lost again, to Portugal in Lisbon on Sunday night, despite a battling display.

But his skipper Robertson insisted: “Without him and his staff, we wouldn’t have got to two major tournaments — that’s a fact.

“When he took over, the country was not in a great place at all. Slowly but surely, we managed to piece it all together.

“He couldn’t have done it without us, but we couldn’t have done it without him.

“He’s come under criticism, I’ve come under criticism. The whole team have come under criticism, but that’s the way of it.

“When the results aren’t good, everyone looks at the leader, who is the manager. The other leader is me, the captain.

“Then they look at the other big players. That’s part and parcel of it.

“We’ve been in the game long enough, we know and we can deal with that.

“It’s about us trying to believe that we can turn a corner.

“Against Portugal we believed that in the changing room before the game.

“We believed we could go there and cause them issues.

“I think we showed that, I think we definitely showed that.

“I think the way we played, you’ve seen the belief that we had.”

It’s now just one win in 14 games for Scotland, with Robbo admitting he understands why the Tartan Army are hurting.

The Liverpool defender reflected on the early Euros exit in Germany in the summer and admitted: “That was difficult.

“In terms of the Germany game I think we let ourselves down.

“I thought Switzerland was a really good game, but against Hungary we let ourselves down in a way that for a game we had to win, we didn’t create as many chances.

“But I think the last two games have been really good performances.

“I think against Poland on Thursday, there were too many mistakes.

“Defensively, giving away two penalties is criminal and we all know that.

“That’s why we got beat in that game.

“But in Lisbon, there weren’t really any mistakes out there.

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“We played a really good team. We should have got a draw.

“But we understand why the fans are frustrated. The results haven’t been good enough.

“We have not been consistent enough when we were on a really good run.

“But to our own downfall, we’ve got to Group A of the Nations League by being successful.

“Now we’re playing against pot one teams.

“It’s never easy and you do get punished with that one bit of quality.

“They showed that in the 88th, 89th minute, whatever it was. And unfortunately for us, it was enough for them to get the win.”

Kris Boyd also has no doubts the Scotland manager will survive what he regards a ‘transitional’ period for the national team.

The dismal form has left former Scotland striker Boyd worried, but the SunSport columnist told our Go Ballistic YouTube show that Clarke remains the right man for the job — and there’s no obvious candidate to replace him.

Asked if he’s concerned his old Kilmarnock gaffer could soon become a casualty of the current team overhaul, Boyd said: “No, I’m not. When you look at the bigger picture, there will be people who will turn.

“Inevitably, Steve will leave Scotland. That’s what will happen. That’s what always happens when you’re in a job.

“Do I think it’s at that stage yet? No.

“I know there will be people moaning and people wanting to go and get another manager.

“But who is out there who is going to take the Scotland job and who is out there who is going to take the job and improve us? That’s the key thing.

“I get the feeling this squad might — and I’ll use the term might — have hit a glass ceiling.

“Back-to-back Euros, Nations League, it’s the top table.

“The big thing would be, can we qualify for the World Cup?

“Steve Clarke deserves the chance to qualify for the World Cup.

“People will go on about, ‘We need to change the manager, it’s one win in whatever’.

“But you need to take into consideration the calibre of teams we’ve been playing against.

“Yes, the performances might not have been as good as we thought.

“But a lot of these poor performances have come from us being so good at the start of the European qualification.

“We kind of took our foot off the gas towards the end of the group.

“You didn’t win a few games and then the knock-on effect, the Northern Ireland loss was the big one then Finland and rightly so, there were people starting to ask questions then.

“The last two games there have been positives to take. There have been youngsters on the pitch, caps to be given out.

“But it’s a transitional period and I don’t think there’s any point in ripping it up right now and going again.

“For me, Steve Clarke’s been over the course and distance. He knows how to structure a team, how to get the results. He’ll turn this around.”

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Boyd was encouraged by the performances against Poland and Portugal, despite the last-gasp defeats.

The ex-Rangers striker, who scored seven goals in 18 caps, said: “The performance against Portugal was the exact same as it was against Poland on Thursday.

“There were a lot of positives to take from it, but at the same time, it’s the result that matters.

“One win in 14, it is becoming worrying.

“I said it in my column at the weekend, I think there’s a transition with Scotland at the minute.

“Steve wants to throw in all the youngsters that are coming through, but at the same time he wants to integrate them for the World Cup qualifying campaign.

“Are we going to win the Nations League? No.

“Are we going to be relegated? More than likely, back down to the level where we are.

“We can compete, but it’s very difficult to go and win these games.

“There’s been a lot of negativity flying around after the Euros and rightly so because of the way we went about it.

“You get the feeling the last two games have maybe brought a bit of positivity back.

“But people want results, they want to win games and that’s not happening at the minute.”

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