Gary Mackay: Steve Clarke was unassuming even as a youth - it's now his and Scotland's strength

You only work with the people Steve Clarke has worked with if you can be trusted. Right now, the Scottish people can have total faith in the national manager.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke.

He ended 22 years of disappointment by really galvanising the Scotland team and turning them into a functional, efficient unit. That match in Belgrade on Thursday night was the culmination of months of hard work.

Steve has enjoyed the trust of people like Jose Mourinho, Kenny Dalglish, Bobby Robson and Ruud Gullit during his career – people at the top of their profession. He worked with all of them and they leaned on him because he is a reliable, dependable sort.

I played with Steve at Scotland youth level and he hasn’t really changed much as an individual. He was always very understated and his team mirrors him in that sense. He had that unassuming persona about him.

As a player, he always wanted to be part of a group and contribute to the overall work ethic. He never looked for any praise. You would look at a few Scotland players in the win against Serbia and say they are similar to the manager in that regard.

It was absolutely brilliant to watch, an inspiring night for everyone. There were some great individual performances but they all came together to contribute to the team.

That’s how it is for Steve. It’s about the output of the team overall. His Kilmarnock team were exactly the same and that’s what Scotland needed when he took over.

Callum McGregor in midfield is an outstanding football player, but then Declan Gallagher at centre-back put in such a colossal performance against an experienced English Premier League striker in Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Then there’s David Marshall’s save in the shootout which makes him the hero. The whole night was summed up by Ryan Christie’s interview at the end. The emotion was clear to see.

The Tartan Army, who have been through thick and thin year after year, must have been in their element. It’s tremendous for the Scottish nation in general but especially for them.

The five guys who stepped up to score those penalties deserve enormous credit. Leigh Griffiths barely touched the ball in open play and scored. Oli McBurnie hasn’t had an easy ride from Scotland fans and still came forward to score.

Nobody can realise how much pressure these boys were under. We could easily have had a villain of the piece but the five of them put their penalties away with great aplomb.

It was warming for anybody who wants the international side to do well. We can all look forward to three games at the European Championship next summer, athough you wouldn’t have picked the group Scotland are in.

Everybody will be desperate for fans to be allowed inside Hampden to see the games against Czech Republic and Croatia. Then there’s England at Wembley.

It would be massively disappointing if Covid puts a stop to that. Then again, if we’re going to keep getting results like we have done recently in empty stadiums, maybe we should just let that continue?

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