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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Ewan Paton

Steve Clarke retains SFA backing despite Scotland's Euro 2024 nightmare

Steve Clarke's future as Scotland head coach will be left entirely up to him - and not the Scottish FA.

Reports suggest the SFA are happy for Clarke to continue as the national team boss despite a poor showing at Euro 2024 last month.

The Scottish Sun reports that Clarke's position is not under threat. It's said that the 60-year-old will be allowed to carry on in his role if he still wants to.

SFA president Mike Mulraney is believed to be a big supporter of Clarke, and that remains unchanged despite Scotland's dismal output on the park in Germany.

Clarke ended the country's 22-year wait to reach a major finals by steering us to Euro 2020.

However, in a repeat three years on, once again, Scotland finished bottom of their group with two defeats and a draw.

Hungary beat Scotland 1-0 in what was a must-win match for the Scots if they were to hold out hope of qualifying for the last-16 and become the first-ever Scotland team to reach the knockout rounds.

That last-gasp defeat, where Clarke's team were heavily criticised for their lack of adventure, saw a second consecutive bottom-placed finish as a major finals.

The group table read: one point, two goals for and seven goals against.

The report states that Clarke and Mulraney are happy to be taking a summer break for now, and will wait until the conclusion of the Euros before discussing where things go next.

The former Chelsea and Liverpool assistant is contracted until after the next World Cup finals in 2026.

Mulraney wants Clarke to remain in position for Scotland's next game against Poland at Hampden on September 5 in the Nations League Group A1.

Clarke has been in the head coach role since 2019, when he was headhunted after his stellar work carried out at Kilmarnock.

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