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John McGinn Turns out he saw steve clarkAs the “wild” side of scotland Manager scolds his players at half-time of 2-1 win over Belarus world cup Ability.
The Tartan Army are now just two wins away from qualifying for the World Cup – ahead of crucial matches against already eliminated Greece on Denmark’s home turf next month – but it was a worrying night at Hampden as the hosts limped over the line.
Clarke, who was in charge of Scotland for a record-breaking 72nd time, said he was as “disappointed” as he was during his reign, with Scotland struggling to build on Che Adams’ early goal after 15 minutes. There were some boos at the final whistle.
McGinn said, “At half-time, and it was fair, it was the best I had seen him in 72 games.” “But he has been fantastic not only for me, but for the country and the group.
“I think he still has a lot of games left. A big milestone but he’s rightfully angry. But he’s put us in a great position in the qualifying group again. That can’t be forgotten.”
Clarke, who has twice led Scotland to the European Championships and is trying to qualify for their first men’s World Cup since 1998, left no stone unturned despite it being a historic moment for them.
“I’m really disappointed — really, really disappointed,” Clark said. “This is probably as disappointed as I’ve been the entire 72 games. We just didn’t come.
“But before I go down that path, and you start asking me questions about why I feel the way I do, it’s also important to point out that performance doesn’t give you merit. And there was definitely no performance tonight.
“But we got three points and that’s six points from the double-header, so we’re really happy about that, as will anyone with a Scottish connection.
“But the performance was quite down. It’s a head-scratcher. But I’ll go, I’ll watch, and we’ll analyze it. We’ll look at what we have to do better and how we can be more cohesive as a team without the ball. And how we have to be better as a team when we have the ball.
“I’ve told them that in the dressing room, so they know what my feelings are. But I have a lot of confidence in them and I trust them completely. And I know next month they’ll be a different animal.”
Clarke’s outburst at half-time did not inspire a better performance from Scotland and the hosts ran out of luck when Belarus had a second-half equalizer disallowed for a foul on Scott McTominay in the build-up.
McTominay doubled Scotland’s lead in the 84th minute, but Belarus substitute Hleb Kuchko pulled a goal back in stoppage time.
McGinn said, “Was it a little better in the second half? Probably not.” We are not so foolish as to think so. But what we did is cross the border.
“We know exactly what we have to do next month, two wins and we’re there.”