Steve Clarke stood on Scotland brink but Hampden Houdini act has me excited again – Keith Jackson

If you’re not even remotely excited by what’s going on with Steve Clarke’s Scotland right now then, with the best will in the world, there’s probably something wrong with you.

Yes, these constant international breaks are becoming increasingly irritating for those who prefer their football wrapped up in club colours and, true, they are robbing the domestic game of the chance to build any serious momentum. No sooner are things hotting up back on the home front than Clarke calls a halt to it all by summoning his troops together and setting off on another Nations League double header.

And, in terms of results, there’s been very little joy to be found on this whistle stop tour of the top level of the European game. Until now. Throughout it all and from the very outset, Clarke insisted his players will grow in stature now they have been thrown into the big boys’ playground and told to fend for themselves. And, although that sounded like wishful thinking at first, he has proven to be as good as his word.

Let’s be in no doubt here either. When Scotland slinked away from the Euros in the summer this was a manager on the brink. So timid and feeble were their efforts in Germany that the connection they had established with the nation in general had been horribly fractured.

And, quite correctly, Clarke was the man carrying the can for this enforced period of unwanted navel gazing. It was the man in charge who copped the blame for keeping the handbrake on his players throughout a tournament which rewarded those who were prepared to go out there, take a risk and live a little.

Had Clarke continued with this caution-at-all-costs approach then the country’s patience with him might have snapped long before he claimed the scalp of the