Steve Clarke reveals when he plans to quit Scotland manager’s job

STEVE CLARKE insists he deserves the chance to lead Scotland to the World Cup finals.

Clarke finally broke his silence after the dismal Euro 2024 campaign as he named his 24-man squad for the upcoming Nations League clashes with Poland and Portugal.

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Ryan Gauld has been handed a call-up, as exclusively revealed by SunSport last week.

Clarke insisted he’s the man to lead the nation to the 2026 World Cup while revealing he plans to quit after the campaign, but joked: “What if we win it?

“Look, I think I’ve earned the right to finish my contract.

“I haven’t had any discussions about new contracts and I’m pretty sure in my own mind that I’ll be coming up to 63 and it might be time to do something else.

“But do I think I’ve earned the right to see it through? Yeah, I think so.

“I’ve always said I’d love to go to a World Cup with the country. I’ve got a group of players that are determined to go to a World Cup.

“In the summer this will be their last chance. It will certainly be my last chance.”

Clarke hasn’t talked publicly about the Euros since the defeat to Hungary on June 23, which has brought criticism from some fans, but he hit back at criticism of his team’s performances in Germany.

Asked if he was reluctant to talk about it, he insisted: “No, I just didn’t think there was anything to be gained by talking about it then and maybe touching on it again now.

“Here we are in one press conference.

“All you guys are here and it’s been lovely to speak to you again.

“I know there is disappointment but, for me, I take it as a compliment because it means that myself, my staff and the players have done a really good job to raise the expectation.

“When I took the job it was over 20 years since we’d been at a tournament. We’ve now been at two out of the last three, so we must have done something right. So you raise that expectation.

“If the expectation now is you have to qualify for the tournament and you have to come out of the group stage, then that’s what we’ll try and do in 2026.”

Ex-Dundee United star Gauld, now in the MLS with Vancouver Whitecaps, will jet to Scotland from Texas on Sunday ahead of the double-header with the Poles and Portuguese.

But Clarke added: “I think we have to be careful not to change too much, not to turn our backs on the players that have done ever so well for the country over the last few years.

“The last two qualifying campaigns, I know we lost in the play-off games, but the World Cup qualifying campaign and the qualifying campaign for the last few years was really good.

“Those players deserve a lot of respect from everybody and certainly from me as their coach.”

Meanwhile, Alan Irvine has replaced James Morrison as coach to work alongside Clarke and No 2 John Carver.

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