The kids are alright for boosting Scotland morale as Clarke dismisses negativity

Scotland manager Steve Clarke was buoyed by the enthusiasm of thousands of young fans after dismissing the “negative Normans” who read too much into the narrow scoreline against Gibraltar.

Busloads of schoolchildren watched an open training session at Hampden as the Scotland squad continued to bond with the public ahead of Euro 2024.

Clarke’s squad will finish their preparations with a friendly against Finland in Mount Florida on Friday night before travelling to Germany on Sunday, five days before kicking off the tournament against the hosts in Munich.

The boss has had his challenges in recent weeks, losing Lewis Ferguson, Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, Lyndon Dykes and Ben Doak to injury.

A seven-match run without a win ended against Gibraltar on Monday night but a 2-0 victory was not the morale booster some were looking for as Scotland missed a series of early chances.

Clarke had viewed the game as a training exercise and the excitement of the young fans was an antidote to Reading some of the analysis of the game.

“My ears are still ringing from that training session,” he said. “We brought over 5,000 young people in to watch the training session. The noise was fantastic, the enthusiasm was fantastic.

“And anytime I read a little snippet from somebody who wants to be negative Norman, I just dismiss it because what is there to be negative about?

“We’re going into another major tournament, the squad’s in a good place, we’re all determined to do as well as we can for our country. Why not just relax and enjoy it?

“That’s what we’re going to try and do. Obviously we’ve got to produce the goods on the pitch, and that’s what we’ll do.

“I just don’t understand why anybody would be negative about a second European Championship in a row and a really good squad. The players have have shown how good they are for the country. Let’s get behind them and give them a real chance.

“People don’t look in depth at what the Gibraltar game was for. I do. I was happy with what I saw the other night. The players were happy with what they they got out of the game the other night. And let’s just look forward to Germany.”

After setting up camp near Darlington during the Covid-hit Euro 2020 finals, Clarke deliberately based his squad in Glasgow over the past week to ensure they felt the mood of the nation this time round.

“Obviously we’ve had to work hard over the last five years to re-establish a connection with the the supporters, and especially the young supporters because that’s the next generation,” he said.

“And I’m sitting here after that training session thinking maybe there’s a future Scotland international that’s sitting in that stand that’s watched that training session and thinking, ‘that’s what I want to do in the future, that’s what I want to be part of’.

“So that’s what we’re trying to build. The connection between the fans and the players is much better than it was when I first came in. This summer, we’re going to try and make it even better.”

Clarke is expected to name a more familiar line-up against Finland but he stressed that the game is all about preparation.

“We’d love to finish with a win because that sends everybody away really happy,” he said. “But good performance, no injuries, good run out and ready to go for the game that matters, which is next Friday in Germany.”