McCoist: No knee-jerk reaction needed on Clarke after Euros disappointment

Ally McCoist says any “knee-jerk reaction” over Steve Clarke’s future as Scotland manager would be a mistake and insists he sees no natural successor as his replacement.

The former Rangers forward, who scored the winning goal the last time the national team won a game at a major tournament, was speaking following the Euro 2024 disappointment.

Hungary scored in the 9th minute of injury time to consign Scotland to defeat and another group stage exit, as they finished with just one point from their three group games.

But McCoist believes the manager, who has qualified for back-to-back Euros has done an “exceptionally good job” and should be in no rush to make a decision.

Speaking to the STV Sport, he said: “I think he’s done an exceptionally good job, I genuinely do. You know, not qualifying for major tournaments since ‘98, and he’s got us to two European Championships, he deserves an awful lot of credit for that.

“What I also think he deserves, is a period to go away and think about what he wants to do himself.

“The worst thing that could happen would be a knee-jerk reaction from anybody, Steve or the SFA. Yes, we’re disappointed at this moment in time.

“Yes, we’re kind of licking our wounds. But I think everyone needs a little bit of time to sit-down and digest what’s happened, what can happen, where we want to go.

“I mean, is there a natural successor, for example, to Steve? I’m not sure there is.

“People keep saying Davie Moyes to me and David Moyes would be an obvious candidate. But is David Moyes ready to give up club football? I’m not sure.

“I just think Steve deserves the opportunity himself to go away, have a break, sit-down and think about what he wants to do, and then have a chat with his bosses at the SFA and decide what both parties want to do.”