Scotland repeats its presence in a European Championship and, as in 2021, it does so Steve Clarke as a selector. Today, at 60 years old, he is almost a national hero, but in May 2019, when he took office to replace Alex McLeishseems to have disappeared from football.
Clarke had a very distinguished playing career, especially in the Chelsea, where he spent 11 years, from 1987 to 1998. There he was one of the pioneers of the modern attacking back and won the FA Cup in 1997 as well as the Cup Winners’ Cup and League Cup in 1998.
Top teachers
After hanging up his boots, Clarke began a cautious career as a bank assistant. In Newcastle, Chelsea, West Ham and then Liverpool he learned the trade of Ruud Gullit, Bobby Robson, José Mourinho, Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Di Matteo or Kenny Dalglish. A great teaching team, without a doubt.
Clarke finished as first coach at West Bromwich Albion in 2012. He spent one season, another at Reading, he also had a short spell at Aston Villa which gave way to a gap year.
His wife convinced him
“I had fun, I relaxed, but my husband felt that I was impatient and frustrated. Probably when I was watching football games and swearing at the TV. “He felt I was too young to retire and convinced me to go back to work,” he recalled.
He did so in October 2017 to mediocre Kilmarnock, which he took into third place in the Scottish league, his only great success, but that This helped him to be called up by the Scottish Federation and will pick it up in May 2019.
Take care of the details and stay calm
John Carver, his assistant, praising his “attention to detail,” his “ability to remain calm,” and his communication skills to convey to the team. “He was firm when necessary, but treated everyone with respect,” he said. In the field Clarke applies a system with three central defenders, but there are many alternatives, which give results.
After crashing out in the group stage at Euro 2021, it’s now up to Clarke, who Regrettably not qualifying for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Another great opportunity is presented to him to make history and ensure that Scotland, participating for the fourth time in the continental tournament, overcomes this first stage once and for all, a wall that until now has not solved.
The recent loss of his father
This second European Championship will come to Clarke afterwards losing his father Eddie, a victim of dementia, at the beginning of the year. “He lived a long life, he gave us a good education. He and my mother raised eight children. He had a little bit of me and I like to think that there was also a mother,” he recalls in a recent BBC podcast interview ‘This Sporting Life’.
Eddie is a footballer and the guiding light of Steve’s career. Strict, but ever-present in his son’s move from Beith Juniors to St Mirren and from there to London, where he became one of Chelsea’s most respected players.
“My dad gave us good standards, good morals and I hope we can make him proud,” Clarke said. “He probably understands that I’m the manager of Scotland but after the dementia he doesn’t really understand it. I don’t think he holds any information.”
“He’s watched me my whole career,” continue “He’s always been there to support me and it’s a shame that in the end he didn’t fully understand that his son was the manager of Scotland and he was really good at the job.”
Gianluca Vialli, also fundamental
Another key person in his banking career was his friend Gianluca Vialli, the former Italian international who died in January 2023 of cancer. He, who had been his coach at Chelsea, encouraged him to make the move.
“Last summer (as a player), Luca said to me: ‘Come on, Clarkie, we’re going to Bermuda,'” Clarke explained, recalling as far back as 1998. “We played a little golf and He told me, ‘Clarkie, you’re going to be a coach.'”
“So, in the best possible way, and probably being the only person I would have accepted it, he ended my playing career and sent me on another path. “He probably has a favor with me.”
His father Eddie and his friend Luca will no doubt be guiding him this summer in Germany during the Euro Cup.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
