Football Apr 02, 2026

Scotland: Steve Clarke 'not bothered' about sorting his own future out before World Cup

👤
By Admin
Sports Journalist
Scotland: Steve Clarke 'not bothered' about sorting his own future out before World Cup

Steve Clarke says he's "not bothered" about sorting out his future as Scotland boss before the World Cup despite being out of contract after the tournament.

Clarke, who took over in May 2019 and has led Scotland to three major tournaments out of four, has previously floated the idea of a return to club management and had said publicly that he'd like his future sorted before the tournament.

However, after Scotland's 1-0 defeat to Ivory Coast, when asked if he wanted still wanted that clarity, he said: "No. I want to concentrate on the World Cup. I'm sure if something happens you guys will know, if it doesn't, I'm not bothered. I want to be in right frame of mind for the World Cup and my players. What happens will happen."

Scotland slipped a second friendly defeat of this international break, losing 1-0 to Ivory Coast in Liverpool on Tuesday.

It was another flat display at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium, watched by Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Kenny Dalglish and Toffees boss David Moyes. Like at Hampden Park on Saturday when they lost 1-0 to Japan, there were a smattering of boos at half-time and full-time for Clarke's men.

Scotland have two more warm-up games against Curacao and Bolivia, who were revealed as the second opponent by Clarke in his post match press conference, before they take to the biggest stage of all for the first time in 28 years in the USA, where they face Haiti, Morocco and Brazil in their group.

When asked about the boos and whether it's affecting his team, Clarke said: "The more you speak about it the more you encourage people to be negative. I thought my team were very positive.

"I don't think we deserved to lose. We started well, looking bright and trying to get forward. Our system caused them a problem to start with but we allowed a really poor goal from a counter attack. Really good teams punish that. They're a good team.

"Our reaction wasn't good. We lost control of the game. That is something we have to be better at.

"In the second half we dominated the game. We didn't create anything clean but that is credit to Ivory Coast.

"We need quality and calmness in the final third. If you do that, chances will come."

Tags:

football news

Share this article

Related Posts

Tottenham bosses trying to convince Roberto De Zerbi to take managerial job now rather than end of season - paper talk and football transfer gossip

Tottenham bosses trying to convince Roberto De Zerbi to take managerial job now rather than end of season - paper talk and football transfer gossip

The top stories and transfer rumours from Monday's newspapers...Tottenham bosses want to convince Roberto De Zerbi to take their head coach's job now...

Emiliano Sala: French court dismisses Cardiff's compensation claim against Nantes following death of striker in 2019

Emiliano Sala: French court dismisses Cardiff's compensation claim against Nantes following death of striker in 2019

Cardiff City's claims for compensation in excess of £100m following the death of player Emiliano Sala have been dismissed by a commercial court in Fra...

'Igor Tudor's departure was inevitable as Spurs roll the dice one final time in search of Premier League safety'

'Igor Tudor's departure was inevitable as Spurs roll the dice one final time in search of Premier League safety'

Igor Tudor's departure from Tottenham after just seven matches is no surprise, but Spurs must get this final roll of the dice right to maintain their...

Igor Tudor: Croatian leaves Tottenham Hotspur by mutual consent after just 44 days and seven games in charge

Igor Tudor: Croatian leaves Tottenham Hotspur by mutual consent after just 44 days and seven games in charge

Igor Tudor has left his role as Tottenham Hotspur head coach after seven matches in charge.Spurs made the surprise decision to turn to Tudor just 44 d...

England: Thomas Tuchel says John Stones a 'key player' for him as defender's injury issues a concern ahead of World Cup

England: Thomas Tuchel says John Stones a 'key player' for him as defender's injury issues a concern ahead of World Cup

Thomas Tuchel has described John Stones as "a key player" but warned that the injury-hit Manchester City centre-back "has to be fit" if he is to make...

World Cup 2026: Scotland's John McGinn would 'happily lose friendlies for next 10 years' to qualify for major finals

World Cup 2026: Scotland's John McGinn would 'happily lose friendlies for next 10 years' to qualify for major finals

John McGinn would "happily lose friendlies for the next 10 years" if it meant Scotland qualifying for every major tournament.The national side were bo...