Scotland 'always scanning' for a future head coach
The Scottish FA is "always scanning to see who's available" to be their next national head coach, chief executive Ian Maxwell has admitted as Steve Clarke enters the final 13 months of his current contract.Clarke, appointed in May 2019, has led Scotland to back-to-back European Championships and is aiming to take the national side to a first men's World Cup since 1998.The 61-year-old former Kilmarnock, Reading and West Bromwich Albion boss said in March that there is a "75% chance" he will not renew his deal."Succession planning, I always need to have an eye on what's about because managers can leave at any point for a variety of different reasons," Maxwell told BBC Scotland.
"So that's always on the agenda. There's always a bit of scanning to see who's available, but the focus right now is on Steve and the team and on getting to USA, Mexico and Canada in 2026 and replicating the Germany experience [Euro 2024] for the Tartan Army."Scotland begin their quest for a place at World Cup 2026 away to Denmark on 5 September, with Greece and Belarus the other Group C opponents."The discussion has always been about getting to the World Cup," Maxwell said. "Steve is desperate to get there."We've got a squad that are desperate and fully capable of getting there. We've got a nation that want him to get there. We need to get behind everybody to make sure that we find ourselves in USA, Mexico and Canada next year."Clarke took over after a second spell for Alex McLeish and is just two games away from equalling the record 71 matches overseen by Craig Brown from 1993-2002.However, Scotland have only won four of their latest 14 outings, with Monday's 4-0 friendly win over minnows Liechtenstein needed to lift the gloom after successive Hampden defeats by Greece and Iceland."I think, since Steve came in, the missing link for him is the World Cup," Maxwell added. "He's been to back-to-back Euros. He's taken us from League C to League A in the Nations League."So I would take a much broader view than the last 12 months. I think that's too short an outlook. "We need to be aware of the substantial impact that the team have had, the substantial improvements in the team from where we were and, as I said, focus everybody's energy on getting to the next World Cup."
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