Small-minded SFA must ditch parochial mentality if Scotland are to thrive | Ewan Murray

<p>Search for Steve Clarke’s replacement must look outside the country’s borders to avoid future World Cup disappointment</p><p>There was one element of the Scottish Football Association’s otherwise baffling decision to give&nbsp;Steve Clarke a four‑year deal weeks before a World Cup ball had been kicked that made sense.</p><p>When assessing alternatives to Clarke as the Scotland manager, it is apparent that paucity of talent among the country’s footballers is replicated in the coaching ranks. Clarke’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/28/steve-clarke-resigns-scotland-manager-after-elimination-from-world-cup-2026">sudden resignation</a> places the SFA in a position it was not only desperate to avoid but requires something it typically lacks; out‑of‑the-box thinking. Clarke has&nbsp;spared himself and his paymasters an acrimonious, lengthy goodbye while placing them in precisely the quandary they thought they had seen off.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/28/scotland-search-new-coach-replace-steve-clarke">Continue reading...</a>