Scotland coach Steve Clarke looking for reaction against Portugal
14/10/2024
Hampden Park, Scotland, UK
14/10/2024
Hampden Park, Scotland, UK
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SportsTranscript
01:30Right.
01:39Sure it's fresh?
01:40Yes, it's hot, honestly.
01:42Got a straw?
01:46Gobble it.
01:47Nice.
01:48Steve, is everyone fit and available?
01:50You made one change, obviously, with Conor Barron, St James' Forest.
01:54How is everyone else?
01:55Yeah, everyone's good. Good to go.
01:58Obviously, Conor Barron with the under-21s.
02:00Was that a case of, once that game didn't go that way,
02:03that was the only place to dip back in like you did in the previous game?
02:06Yeah, I think I've already got a number of players within the squad
02:10that haven't been in the squad before.
02:14Conor's been with us.
02:15It was an obvious call-up.
02:17It just gives us a little bit more depth to the squad.
02:20How is everyone feeling after the other night?
02:23Yeah, good. Good.
02:25Obviously, like always, disappointed with the result,
02:28but I feel as though I'm repeating myself.
02:32There is a process that you have to go through.
02:35You're playing at the top table against top teams.
02:38Maybe the results are not going to go for you,
02:40but we have to believe in what we're doing.
02:43And when I look at the players on the pitch,
02:46then I believe in what we're doing.
02:49You talk...
02:50I'm sorry, I need a little translation.
03:20Steve, you said the other night it would be better to speak in depth with your team once you got back to Glasgow.
03:35What was the nature of those conversations?
03:38How much of a job do you have to pick the players up?
03:41No, no, the players are good. Ready to go again.
03:43There's absolutely no issue whatsoever with that.
03:45Like I said before, the players understand where we are in the process.
03:50They understand what they have to do to get results.
03:52And as far as I can see, and hopefully as far as everyone else can see,
03:56they're all on board with that.
04:00A question for the coach.
04:02Considering the depth of the selection,
04:04what was the nature of the conversation?
04:07There are no problems. Everything is OK.
04:10My players are confident.
04:12They know they're part of the process.
04:14And that's how we're going to continue.
04:17Steve, you talked after Saturday's game in there about the belief that you have in the players.
04:21How challenging is it to get them to have the same belief in themselves that you have in them?
04:27It's really simple.
04:28They do believe in themselves.
04:30They understand that we're playing difficult opponents.
04:33They understand also that the squad could be stronger.
04:37Everyone knows that.
04:38All these things are there to be seen.
04:40I don't speak about it too much because
04:42I feel it's disrespectful to the boys that are in the squad.
04:45We have to concentrate on who we have, who we have here.
04:48And we have to go out against Portugal.
04:50And we know we have to be very good at everything we do in the game.
04:53And hopefully we can get the result that might just change the whole mood about the place.
05:01Coach, Steve Clarke said that the players know their worth.
05:05They know how difficult it is for the opponents.
05:09I think everything has been visible in the field of play.
05:12If we really have to focus on what we have at the moment,
05:16the performances have been good.
05:19And maybe we can get the result that can change the mood and bring a good dynamic to the team.
05:25There's a real alchemy that goes into turning good performances into positive results.
05:29Do you feel like you're getting closer to that?
05:31And how big a role can Hamden and the crowd play in that tomorrow?
05:36Yeah, the crowd have got a part to play.
05:38The crowd also have to believe in their team and their players.
05:41I don't see any reason why they shouldn't believe in this group of players.
05:45We've got players who are...
05:47I think Darrell just told me we've got three players who are inside the top ten cap appearances for their country.
05:53After 20 years in the international wilderness, this group of players have been to two major tournaments.
05:58They've got promotion to this top level of the Nations League.
06:02So I don't understand why people would be doubting about this group of players.
06:07It's a tough moment, there's no doubt about it.
06:10But we believe in ourselves.
06:37Scotland has been promoted to this top level of the Nations League.
06:41So we're going to keep playing the same type of games.
06:44And we believe it will be possible to maintain this trend and get good results.
07:07Hopefully we can find another level that gets us the positive result that we all want.
07:37Tactically, what you did in Lisbon, how much is that a template for what you hope to do tomorrow?
07:42Because you did a good job of containing Portugal.
07:45But is there any extra emphasis on a bit more attacking when you're back on home soil?
07:51Sometimes the quality of the opposition determine how often you get to attack.
07:56So what we have to do is make sure that we maximise the moments when we have the ball.
08:01Something that we do speak to the players about is trying to improve our ball possession.
08:05When we play against the top sides.
08:07We did that against Croatia.
08:09And I think you see the results of that was a really strong performance away from home.
08:13Hopefully we can improve the ball possession at home.
08:16Against a top one team.
08:18And we get a similar performance.
08:22And a much better result.
08:28Translate this and then we'll get to Derek.
08:31Question for the coach.
08:33Tactically, did you get to the point of expectations in the game in Lisbon?
08:40Because maybe in defence I saw that there was a special attention to the response.
08:45The opponent, as I said, what we do on the pitch.
08:49We will try to have a positive ball possession.
08:53I think against Croatia we already managed to have a different ball possession.
08:57And it also resulted in a good performance.
08:59We hope that against Portugal we will be able to have the same type of game.
09:03The same type of ball possession.
09:05And that the result will be better.
09:09Steve, after tomorrow night you will go ahead of Jock Stein, Andy Roxburgh in terms of games in charge of Scotland.
09:15Can I ask how that will make you feel?
09:18I didn't know.
09:19You didn't tell me that.
09:20I told you six months ago.
09:23Proud, obviously, to be mentioned in the same breath as people like Mr Stein and Mr Roxburgh,
09:34who still sends me the occasional email just to keep in touch.
09:39It's really good.
09:41It shows you that the players have been fantastic for us over the last five and a half years of my reign as head coach.
09:48I'd like to add a few more to the number, if I could.
09:53The question is, tomorrow you are about to achieve a record number of games in front of the Scottish national team.
10:02The answer is, I am proud of this achievement.
10:05It shows that the players have been excellent over the last five or six years that I have been here.
10:10And I want to continue and I hope that I can continue to have more games in front of this national team.
10:23That talent.
10:26Would that be an extra motivation for you to stay on and see it through?
10:30Is it possible for you?
10:32I don't need any extra motivation.
10:34I want to stay on my contract.
10:36I want to go to the World Cup.
10:37I believe this squad of players are good enough to go to the World Cup in America in 2026.
10:43That's all I'm focused on.
10:52Steve, you don't have your troubles to seek with injuries at the moment, but do you have the strength and depth that you need to freshen up your starting line-up?
11:11And would you have any qualms about putting in one of the new boys, given how formidable the opponents are, either from the start or during the game?
11:22That's a really good question.
11:24It's very difficult to get the balance right between throwing players in to an international game when maybe they haven't felt that level.
11:34So it's a very difficult one for us.
11:37Obviously, we didn't train much yesterday.
11:40It was a recovery day for the boys who played.
11:42It was a very light training session this morning, so it was recovery, recovery.
11:47We will assess, obviously, with my coaches tonight and we'll see if there are areas of the team that we can freshen without putting any players under too much pressure to come into a match of this magnitude.
11:58So I have to get the balance right.
12:00Last two.
12:02The question for Mr. Prentice with injuries and whether the team needs to be freshened up.
12:07Do you have any plans to put some new players on the pitch?
12:11The answer is a good question.
12:13It's really very complicated, given that we're talking about international games, when some players haven't set foot on this type of stage.
12:22Yesterday in training, we didn't train much.
12:25It was another recovery session.
12:28We'll have to analyse the players and see if we can include new players for tomorrow's game.
12:58The games are very short, so you spend most of these two days just recovering.
13:04Like I said, I'll assess the squad later.
13:07We'll speak to the medics, we'll speak to the sports science guys who tell you about how much they've run and how many sprints they've made, and then we'll make a decision on that.
13:15I guess age doesn't come into it.
13:17The fact he's 18 wouldn't hold you back from playing him again?
13:20No, no, no, no.
13:21Definitely not.
13:22That would make me ageist.
13:25Who's the player?
13:27Bendook.
13:28Bendook?
13:29Bendook.
13:30Bendook.
13:31The question was about the physical aspect, if Bendook is ready to play.
13:37The answer is, as I said, my players are physically ready.
13:41We're in the process of recovering.
13:43As I said, we're in a period where there aren't many breaks between games.
13:48There's always a clamour for guys like Doak and there was for Gould as well, Steve.
13:54As you mentioned earlier about guys like Robertson and Gordon, you've had a backbone of players that have got between 40, 50, 60, even 70 caps out.
14:02How important is it that you get that balance as well between the core that you obviously trust and the new guys that you've got?
14:12It's very important that we get that.
14:14You mentioned the players that you mentioned.
14:17Andy, for example, with 77 caps.
14:19I thought he was absolutely outstanding the other night for us.
14:22He plays like a captain.
14:24He's a leader.
14:25He's grown into that role.
14:27He's been great for his country over the years.
14:30He doesn't always get the credit he deserves.
14:32We appreciate very much that he's got that.
14:36Getting the balance between the players that are capped.
14:40Darrell gave me a number for young Billy.
14:43Billy's one of the youngsters but he's got something like 23 caps already.
14:48We're already starting to grow the next generation of players.
14:52As well as trying to be good now, we're trying to be good in the future.
14:58We're also trying to leave a little group of players that are ready to go and carry on.
15:03I've mentioned it before.
15:05We don't go 20 years after this group of players stop.
15:08We go 20 years without the success that we all want.
15:11We all want to be involved in the major tournaments.
15:13We don't go 20 years after this group of players stop.
15:15We go 20 years without the success that we all want.
15:18We all want to be involved in the major tournaments.
15:44Andy is an example. He's got 77 games in the national team.
15:47He's been excellent.
15:49In my opinion, he doesn't get the credit he deserves.
15:53I'd also like to highlight that this balance between Evans and me.
15:59Billy already has 23 games.
16:01He's a young player.
16:02But this shows that we're already starting to prepare the next generation.
16:06We're already trying to be efficient.
16:08We're also trying to have a positive performance for this generation
16:12so that they can be present in the next international tournaments.
16:3815 years, not for the next 15 months.
16:42As I always say, don't put too much pressure on him.
16:45He's a young man.
16:46He will make mistakes in the game.
16:48He will do some really good things in the game.
16:50It's to get the balance right between giving Ben the opportunity to play,
16:55which he's more than capable of taking,
16:57but making sure that we also protect him a little bit
16:59and we don't overhype sometimes.
17:01Maybe in the past there's been players that have been a little bit overhyped
17:04that don't fulfil their potential.
17:06The most important thing for Ben is that he fulfils his potential
17:10and if we can help him to do that, that's what we're trying to do.
17:18Once again, the question about the performance of the players and the balance.
17:22Ben, you said that you shouldn't put too much pressure on Ben.
17:27He's a young player.
17:29Ben had the opportunity to play.
17:32I think we shouldn't overvalue the player.
17:36The most important thing is that this young player can really reach his potential.
18:32You said, obviously, that you can't keep a window open.
18:35My point is, rules are many-eyed.