Scotland Euro 2024 failure 'biggest disappointment' of John Carver's career and worse than Newcastle axe

John Carver insists Scotland’s Euro 2024 flop was the biggest disappointment of his career - even worse than losing his job with his beloved Newcastle United.

Steve Clarke’s assistant opened up on his darkest days in football as he returned to Hampden looking to put things right when the Nations League kicks off against Poland on Thursday. They were dealt a blow today when Che Adams, James Forrest and Greg Taylor joined Robby McCrorie in pulling out of the squad. Connor Barron and Josh Doig have been promoted from the Under-21s to join Jon McCracken in bolstering the numbers ahead of the visit of the Poles.

But Carver knows a big performance is required to start the process of healing after a summer of regrets. The Geordie, who has been Clarke’s right hand man for the past four years, admits he was so low after Scotland’s meek group stage exit that he couldn’t even muster up interest in England’s march to the final.

The 59-year-old had two spells as assistant with his boyhood heroes Newcastle but was axed after a spell as interim boss in 2015. Even that, he says, wasn’t as bad as the feeling that followed Scotland’s failure to hit their target of making history by reaching the knockout stage in Germany.

He said: “I’ve got to be honest, in my career it’s probably the biggest disappointment I’ve had. Bear in mind I've lost my job at Newcastle twice, and at Leeds and Sheffield United. This was the biggest disappointment because I had so much excitement going into the tournament on what we had with the players and the staff and how we prepared.

“It was devastating and I found it really difficult to recover. Even going on holiday, it was still in my thoughts. It started changing when we actually arrived back watching games