It's a collective effort in terms of the quality of players we've got, but it starts and ends with the manager in terms of what he envisaged, and he's seen that through' Andy Robertson on Steve Clarke's Scotland impact

"Clarke took over the Scottish national side in 2019 and has put an end to a cycle of failed qualification campaigns and has the Tartan Army hopeful of progressing out of the World Cup group stage for the first time in their history."

"When he first came in, what he wanted was more international experience, the Liverpool defender explains to FourFourTwo. Robertson will lead Scotland out at the World Cup. If you look at his first squad, the amount of caps we had wasn't a lot."

"Sometimes he gets criticised for picking the same players, but now we have a squad with international experience, which is quite hard to get and keep together. Now we have a squad that's desperate to meet up at every training camp, and doesn't want to give a yard. Everybody wants to show up and give their best for their country."

"That's down to the manager. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. I think it's a collective effort in terms of the quality of players we've got, but it starts and ends with the manager in terms of what he envisaged, and he's seen that through. Now we have more experience at international level, that can help you when times get tough, to get over the line in certain games."

Steve Clarke became Scotland manager in 2019 and ended a cycle of failed qualification campaigns. Scotland is set to play its first World Cup since 1998, with hopes of progressing from the group stage for the first time. Captain Andy Robertson credits Clarke with changing the squad’s mentality and consistency. Robertson says Clarke prioritized adding international experience, noting that early squads had fewer caps and that criticism existed over selecting the same players. Over time, Scotland built a group with harder-to-achieve international experience that is eager to meet at training camps and compete for their country. Robertson links this experience to handling difficult moments and winning close games, which contributed to strong qualifying results.

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