Euro 2024: Is Steve Clarke capable of taking Scotland to next level?

The pain of an early Euros exit will be sore enough for Scotland, but the tag of being the tournament’s “most boring team” will only rub salt into the wounds.

Steve Clarke’s side scored just two goals, both of which were finished by opposition players, and matched the record for fewest shots in the competition’s group stage.

They are also the only team at the current finals who have failed to register a first-half shot – something they did on two occasions.

Those grim statistics have raised questions on whether Clarke has what it takes to get the maximum out of the players at his disposal.

The Scotland head coach has deservedly received praise for taking the nation to back-to-back European Championships, but a second straight disappointment in the groups has some fans asking: ‘Can Clarke take us any further?’.

“I have my doubts about that,” The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell says on the BBC’s Scottish Football Podcast.

“Clarke’s had such a long period of time there [to get the team] ready for a major tournament where we know we’re going to have to be better on the ball and be able to break teams down.

“I don’t see any evidence he’s going to be the guy that can do that. And that’s not a slight against him, he’s a good manager at what he does, but I think for this team, there is more ability than what we showed in the last two weeks.

“You look at other teams like Albania, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia. They’ve all had a moment or a game in this tournament where they’ve really shown themselves and they’ve shown their identity.

“What do people come away thinking about Scotland? I don’t really think they come away remembering anything about our style of football, apart from that we’re probably, sadly, the most boring team to watch in the tournament.”

What do you think? Is Clarke still the right man to lead Scotland forward?

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