THE FLYING SCOTSMAN

Clarke's body of work aS National boss Is Impossible to ignore and SFA supremo Maxwell knows it

IAN MAXWELL is not daft. He knows there's an awkward conversation to come at some point.

So stark and so impressive has been the upturn in Scotland's fortunes that it's inevitably only a matter of time.

But, for now at least, the SFA chief executive is happy enough just to get through another day without his phone ringing.

Without being forced into having the one discussion hed much rather never took place.

On Thursday in Paris, Maxwell clocked all the admiring glances from across the room at the draw for the Nations League.

If Steve Clarke's work had not already proved to be impossible to ignore, Scotland's promotion to the big guns of League A merely highlighted the point.

With one tournament under his belt already and another to come in Germany this summer, Clarke is not only transforming our national image across the continent and beyond he's rapidly becoming one of the hottest tickets in town.

In other words, Maxwell has a managerial gem on his hands and it's implausible to think that one day soon, someone else with deeper pockets than he does might pop up on the other end of the line.

Maxwell has already taken the necessary precaution of extending Clarke's contract, even before the boss had sealed a place at Euro 2024.

The decision to tie him down on a bumper new deal without prompting may have raised a few eyebrows.