Just as Jim White famously uttered this article's title at an unfairly handsome Brian Laudrup, so might I fawn at the sight of Steve Clarke right now.
Yeah, Laudrup may have had the skills... and the hair that we all wanted, but the footballing brain Clarke wields, albeit under a more modest cut, has us besotted.
I've been reading FourFourTwo since I was a boy, and it was lovely to see them praise Scotland, not once, but twice. Here below, included in all their glory, is a try not to smile challenge.
The wonderful thing about this Scotland team now, and what analyses like this demonstrate, is that it is not a fluke or a one-off. We are here on merit.
In fact, what most of our esteemed journalistic brethren down South, of whom I have listened to intently, have failed to grasp on many a podcast, is that this is not mere 'pashun' or 'togetherness'. This is a quality-laden team, who play some truly marvellous football. 'More than the sum of their parts', seemed to be similarly thrown our way, meant as a compliment, specifically on the Times podcast. 'Similar to Wales 2016', said another.
These statements might yet prove to be too generous, for, Scotland haven't yet qualified for the Euros next Summer in Germany. However, I may stick my neck out by suggesting that those of us who have kept a very close eye on Scotland's journey since Clarke's first game, and win, against Cyprus three years ago, have noticed improvement upon intentional improvement. 'Pashun', 'Desiyah' and 'Running' are far too trite here. Too lazy for those of us who want to know far more. Who see far more in this team.
This constant improvement is the essence of growth, and the evidence of a growth mindset, which is A\M's speciality. Steve Clarke has it. Our players have it, and, slowly, the Nation is beginning to get it too.
Growth takes time and is often painful. This is what I have been writing for 3 years. It is also, as a recipient of chronic pain and a brain tumour, something I live with and try to remember daily.
There are no shortcuts. Being a 'patient' is indeed the right word, because virtues are not hastily formed.
The fruit you are seeing now is a result of painful pruning earlier on. Of 'not yets' encouraged to bloom and flourish, gradually replacing the older parts. (See Patterson/Hickey's imperceptible succession of the faithful Stephen O'Donnell, or Tommy Conway and Ben Doak's recent involvement with the Senior Team)
In all of this, Steve Clarke has done more than try to win each game, which he certainly has, he has overseen a larger plan which fulfils his own projections after a three-game winning streak early on in his reign.
What we are trying to do, is put in a way of playing, that no matter who comes in, they know what to do. Hopefully you (the media) saw that these last three games. - Steve Clarke, 2020
'You will know them by their fruit', said another wise head once upon a time. For those of us whose job it is to observe and listen carefully, in a professional capacity, you learn to not throw anything away. Not to dare think that only one part of what someone says or does is the important part. You learn to listen carefully and objectively write everything down. Write it all down. Take videos. Document every part. Pay close attention. Each contribution forms a subtlety of the whole picture.
In my work as a specialist educator, I had to do this in order to inform clinical diagnoses which, for the individual, were for life and impacted more lives than I could count. It was, therefore, very important that I could trust what I said fully in meetings and written observations with very concerned parents and other professionals.
Now, I'm not equating the Scottish National Team with the importance of a human life, but what I am saying, is that observation to the detail is a skill. A patient skill. There are ways of ensuring you don't miss anything, and what Steve Clarke has done with this team, is exactly that.
You would think, then, that all coaches do the same, but this is patently not true. The ability to spread out each part and cherish the individuality present, before reforming it into a whole, is as tough a job as there is, requiring laser-like precision. Clarke has previous in this, with both West Brom and Kilmarnock. This is not magic, there is a method.
Early on, the Nation couldn't stop speaking of how Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney could (not) play together. This was something we tackled with depth, offering an answer along the way, and I'll touch on the salient points of the article here.
Through observation, we anticipated that Clarke could mould the players at his disposal into a defensively solid, fast-countering, comfortable in possession, Bielsa-esque squad. This article, written during Leeds' first season back in the Premier League, observed that previously Bielsa had employed similar tactics in getting Chile to the latter stages of the World Cup, a team that then went on to win a Copa America. Bear in mind that this was written before we moved to a back three, achieved qualification, and then brought in Gilmour to be the comfortable possession-based side we now are, at times.
'At times' is exactly right, because we really are the 'flexible yet regimented', intelligent side that 'swings' its defence from left to right (FourFourTwo, above), that adds another central midfielder to out-pass the opposition and change the game (see Gilmour's introduction in Norway, and his MOTM performance against Georgia). Basically, I hate to say I told you so, but... well... we are this side we wrote about two and a half years ago.
Would you like more good news? I'd say that pound-for-pound, this Scotland squad is better than that Chile team in terms of personnel. Yes, they had Alexis Sanchez, and that is a very important missing ingredient, but given a whole season, who knows how the many promising youngsters yet to break through might be challenging for a place in the Finals, should we get there. Ben Doak isn't just Scotland's most exciting youngster, he's Liverpool's too. Who knows how an extremely talented Lewis Ferguson might evolve given another year in Serie A?
Importantly, although we described Sanchez as a missing ingredient, that would be incorrect regarding Clarke's squad, and starting XI, because it's not built on a superstar. John McGinn is an exceptionally good player, and the closest we have to a talisman, but when the Aston Villa captain is not quite on it, as against Georgia, it's not a problem; step forward Scott McTominay, Billy Gilmour, Callum McGregor and Andy Robertson. McGinn wasn't bad, but he didn't need to be Super either, because he was surrounded by Incredibles.
In closing, Yes, Scotland are really, really good now. You don't need to worry about it disappearing overnight, or when we lose a game (for all teams do). We can, quite rightly, say this reservedly because we haven't qualified yet, but we can also say it truthfully. This isn't hype, hyperbole or positive thinking, this is cold, hard, measurable, quantifiable, data. Scotland are good. Adjust. If you're not yet buoyed by the future, please follow @The_Young_Team on Twitter, who regularly detail exactly how good our young players coming through are, or @ScotsAbroadPod for our footballers plying their trade abroad. For everything else National Team related, please see @TheTartanScarf and @HampdenRoarPod.
The most impressive thing about Scotland now isn't the way we play, the goals we score or the progress we've made on the pitch. It's the attitudinal barriers that Steve Clarke's side have managed to tear down, circumvent or uproot. It's the new milestones they're setting, like winning penalty shoot-outs and being the first side to win their opening four qualifiers. It's the way both he and the players talk about what we can do, not fast-bound to the past. We are not our previous failures. All we have is the present. And as for the future? Aye, we can.
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