Scotland boss named among best managers in the world

Scotland boss Steve Clarke has been named among the best managers in the world through 2021 in a list compiled by renowned football magazine FourFourTwo.

Clarke came 39th in FFT’s top 50 managers in 2021, beating out the likes of Rangers boss Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Rafa Benitez and newly-appointed Barcelona manager Xavi.

After guiding Scotland to their first major men’s tournament since 1998 and having the national team on the brink of reaching a World Cup for the first time since France 98 is a huge step forward.

With the list topped by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, Clarke isn’t the only Scot to make the top 50 – West Ham United boss David Moyes ranked 16th after a remarkable year with the Hammers.

Rangers managers Steven Gerrard and Giovanni van Bronckhorst are the only representatives of the SPFL to make the list.

Clarke will be hoping to continue where he left off when the international resume next year with Scotland 180 minutes away from booking a place at the World Cup in Qatar.

Doing that would surely see him rocket even further up the list of best managers in the world come 2022’s edition.

Here’s how Clarke’s 2021 was described after making it into the 50 best managers in the world in 2021:

Just getting Scotland to a World Cup makes you special. The fact that Steve Clarke has managed to get the kind of performances he has out of the Scots is something else – impressive, too, given that the nation’s two best players are both left-backs. But Clarke has found creative solutions using overloads and even turned Scott McTominay into a defender.

FourFourTwo

NTOF now offers a YouTube channel featuring exclusive interviews, post-match discussion, in-depth debate, and much more – LIKE and SUBSCRIBE and don’t miss any of our videos.