DURING the four years that he has been Scotland manager, Steve Clarke believes his man management skills have improved greatly.
Evidence of just how much came at Hampden on Tuesday night during a tumultuous Euro 2024 qualifier against Georgia which he described afterwards as “quite surreal”.
His players were taken off the pitch – which was badly waterlogged when the Group A fixture got underway due to a torrential downpour around an hour before kick-off – on no fewer than three occasions.
Yet, when play finally resumed over 100 minutes after the match had been suspended and just 10 minutes before the UEFA deadline, Andy Robertson and his team mates were, in stark contrast to their opponents, raring to go.
They battered the visitors, who were undefeated in their previous 10 games and in their first two qualifiers, and secured a comfortable and deserved 2-0 triumph which sent them eight points clear at the top of the section.
Clarke revealed how he had attempted to keep his charges in the zone throughout the bizarre ordeal by trying to put himself in their position as he looked back on the topsy-turvy encounter yesterday.
“Every time we go inside there’s a reaction,” he said. “So you just need to get into their heads, really. It’s a mentality thing. Stay focused, stay focused. You’re going back to the pitch.
“You’re told you’re going back out in 10 minutes. Then you’re saying: ‘Sorry lads you’re going back out in 15 minutes’. Then you’re saying: ‘Sorry guys, you’re not going out this time because it’s still raining.’
“The stop-start nature of it was probably tricky. But you’re always working with the boys, telling them to stay in the game, stay in the game. The mentality’s stay in the game.”
His approach clearly worked wonders. Scotland’s players laughed and joked amongst themselves as groundstaff and ball boys attempted to clear the excess water of the Hampden pitch with brushes, rollers and blowers and at one stage stood and applauded the Tartan Army for their patience and backing.
Clarke was proud of how his charges responded to the disruption and admitted their positive mindset was important when referee Istvan Vad and his assistants finally gave the go-ahead to play restarting.
“It (making light of the situation) is better than them sitting inside and s*******g their pants,” he said. “They understand. They know the process, they know they have to wait.
“They know that the Hampden pitch will eventually drain, it was whether it would drain quick enough. They were relaxed about it and obviously we were a goal in front at the stage, which always helps.”
The Georgia players were clearly aggrieved that Callum McGregor’s sixth minute goal – the Celtic captain netted at a John McGinn corner after pouncing on a Lyndon Dykes knock down – was allowed to stand and that the game was not going to be abandoned and completed the following day.
However, Clarke argued that the sodden turf had nothing to do with the opener and praised his players, who dominated possession and created a glut of goalscoring opportunities in the final third, for how they had acquitted themselves both before and after the suspension.
“I don’t think the conditions played too much part in the goal because it was a second ball from a corner and Callum reacted quicker than his marker on the edge of the box and got the goal,” he said.
“Then obviously at the start of the second-half big Scott (McTominay) came up with another one. It was a reasonably comfortable second-half for us.
“We moved it well. When we first went out we spoke about ‘turn around, turn around’ and be wary of back passes. But then the players get a feel for the pitch, feel for the surface, they know they can pass the ball.
“We played some decent stuff. Towards the end you can see the fatigue and the boys just wanting to get it over the line.
“The penalty they were awarded was soft (Scotland wing back Aaron Hickey was adjudged to have handled a cross into his area after Vad had watched a replay of the incident of his pitchside monitor) and fortunately the boy misses it (Napoli winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ballooned his spot kick over the crossbar) so I’m not quite so nervous.
“There were a lot of big performances. Scott McTominay, Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney. Jack Hendry did his job, Ryan Porteous stepped up. Aaron Hickey, up against the kid from Napoli, was outstanding. But you could go through the whole team and say they all put in a shift.”
It was alleged that Georgia’s players had refused to return to the field – but their manager Willy Sagnol revealed at his post-match press conference they had taken exception to being told by a UEFA official that they had to restart in just six minutes without a proper warm-up.
Clarke explained why he felt Guram Kashia and his compatriots had been reluctant to get going again and dismissed suggestions they had not tried their hardest.
“What the Georgians were doing at that stage, because they hadn’t been out to warm up for a long time, they were judging their opinion on what they had seen at the start of the game,” he said.
“Once they came out and started warming up I think they realised the pitch was tricky but playable. Listen, we got the game on, we got the three points, so great.
“I thought Georgia were a good team and they were as motivated as we were. Fortunately, we got the goals and they didn’t.”
Clarke will turn 60 in August before Scotland take on Cyprus – but he was not interested in receiving any early birthday wishes in the wake of the momentous and marathon Georgia match.
“I don’t want to turn 60 early!” he said. “But, no, 60’s 60. It’s just a number. I feel good, I don’t feel 60. Long may that continue.”
