IT wasn’t Steve Clarke’s turn to speak to reporters here in Garmisch-Partenkirchen yesterday, but the Scotland manager decided to excuse his assistant John Carver from his media duties and stepped in to replace him.
Clarke felt that he needed to address the fallout – which has been considerable and at times vicious - to the lamentable 5-1 defeat which the national team suffered at the hands of host nation Germany in their Euro 2024 opener in Munich on Friday night personally.
He was keen to draw a line underneath the debacle and ensure that he and his players are able to focus fully on the crucial encounter with Switzerland.
Will his players also stand up and be counted when they take to the field in the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne on Wednesday evening?
Can they put the dire reverse behind them, rediscover the form they showed in qualifying last year, get the Tartan Army back onside and record a result which keeps their hopes of reaching the last 16 alive?
The 60-year-old has spent every waking moment picking over what went wrong and trying to figure out what changes he has to make for the second Group A outing since referee Clement Turpin blew the final whistle in the Allianz Arena.
He believes his charges have to show far greater belief in themselves, have to exhibit the same sort of swagger they had in their wins over Spain, Norway, Cyprus and Georgia, after the match kicks off in midweek to remain involved in the tournament into the knockout rounds.
“We looked a little bit uptight from right kick-off,” he said. "It’s difficult to say nervous, because these players have played games at this level. But the first couple of clearances were just kicked up the pitch. Normally we get it down and make a pass and try to play and say, ‘Okay, we’re good’.
“We didn’t show we are good until after the first goal. Andy Robertson had a chance to slip in Ryan Christie down the side. He was onside down the line. There were two people arriving in the box. It’s two v two if Ryan gets in. That was probably the only time in the game where we showed what we can do with the ball. But the pass was overhit.
“That’s what we work on. Those are the little moments we work on. I don’t think they were afraid. We didn’t go into the game with any fear. Maybe the first attack spooked us a little bit when they put it in behind us and (Florian) Wirtz got in behind and Gunny (Angus Gunn) made the block before he was ruled offside.
“Maybe that spooked us a little bit and we dropped 10 yards deeper than we should have done, instead of having the strength of mind just to hold and be what we are, which is quite a good pressing team when we get it right.”
Clarke continued: “Obviously we got it completely wrong the other night. We can use everything as a motivation. The biggest motivation for me is when we came to this tournament we felt we were a good team.
“We haven’t shown that in the first game so let’s show it in the second game. I think if we show we are a good team and play as we can play we can get a result in the Swiss game that takes us to the last game. That’s what we have to do.
Clarke has no concerns about Robertson and his team mates being affected by the flak which has flown in their direction since their humiliation in Munich or wilting under the pressure their supporters have put on them to reach the knockout rounds for the first time in their history.
“Listen, with what this group of players have done for the country over a good period of time, we should have expectation,” he said. “We don’t hide from that, we are not hiding from anything. I could sit here and say, ‘Oh, it’s great, we qualified for this’. But don’t hide.
“Expectation is good because it means you have achieved something and people are saying, ‘You know what? This team’s alright’. But the other night we weren’t alright. So we have to remedy that.
“We let people down, we obviously let the country down. But we let ourselves down. I think that is what hurts the most. It is what hurts me the most, that we let ourselves down. Because if we don’t let ourselves down then we don’t let anybody else down.
“So we have to look straight at the source of the problem. What happened? We were the problem. Okay, let’s fix ourselves. If we fix ourselves the country might like us again.”
Clarke has helped his team to bounce back from desperately disappointing displays and results in the past – not least at Euro 2020 when he masterminded a 0-0 draw with England at Wembley following a 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic at Hampden – and is hopeful he can do so again.
“We didn’t panic the last time,” he said. “We had to go to a very difficult place, we had to go to Wembley the last time. We managed to get the point that gave us a chance going into the last game. That is what we have to do again.
“So we understand a little bit better, which is why it is great when you keep qualifying for tournaments because you find a way. There will be different scenarios that come up all the time that you look at all the time and say, ‘Okay, we did that the last time, that worked, and we take that to the next one’. So a win or a draw on Wednesday night would be just what the doctor ordered.”
