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Burning ambitions, fear of the sack and legacy. Steve Clarke the person is a very different character to the one seen prowling around the Scotland dugout, as I've found out having spent some time with him in the build-up to tonight's Nations League match in Greece.
But as we head into what he admits is likely to be his last full year as national manager, one thing is very clear - his determination to end Scotland's near three-decade absence from a men's World Cup.
"To qualify for the World Cup in 2026. That is the bottom line," Clarke, 61, says.
"It has been a long time. The last year of my playing career, 1998, that was the last time [Scotland were] there.
"I've got a lot of players in that dressing room that weren't even born the last time Scotland were at a World Cup – that shows you the size of the task in front of us but it's one we are certainly not afraid of.
"I didn't manage it as a player. I've got another chance and hopefully this group of players can help to take me there."
Clarke, who has said he is 75% sure he will not renew his contract after the 2026 World Cup, has told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland that still being in charge after last year's Euros is something of a bonus.
"When I came out the tournament last summer everybody wanted me out the door."
Asked if he feared the sacked, he says: "It felt that way a little bit.
"Obviously I'm based down south so I didn't get so much around it. And I came out before the September games and said probably the World Cup campaign would be my last one. I still feel that could be the case."
Clarke has been six years in the job. If he is signalling his intent to leave next year it means beginning to assess the job he has done.
"The biggest thing I think we have achieved - apart from the qualifications which breeds what I'm about to say next - is there is a much better connection between the Tartan Army and the people of Scotland," he says.
"My first game was a Saturday afternoon at Hampden and the stadium wasn't full. Now it doesn't matter when we play, the stadium is more or less full every single time. That tells you there has been a connection."
So what about the Clarke legacy?
"It's probably something I'll do when I exit Hampden. And then I have a little look back and if people feel I've done a good job then that would be great."
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But as we head into what he admits is likely to be his last full year as national manager, one thing is very clear - his determination to end Scotland's near three-decade absence from a men's World Cup.
"To qualify for the World Cup in 2026. That is the bottom line," Clarke, 61, says.
"It has been a long time. The last year of my playing career, 1998, that was the last time [Scotland were] there.
"I've got a lot of players in that dressing room that weren't even born the last time Scotland were at a World Cup – that shows you the size of the task in front of us but it's one we are certainly not afraid of.
"I didn't manage it as a player. I've got another chance and hopefully this group of players can help to take me there."
Clarke, who has said he is 75% sure he will not renew his contract after the 2026 World Cup, has told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland that still being in charge after last year's Euros is something of a bonus.
"When I came out the tournament last summer everybody wanted me out the door."
Asked if he feared the sacked, he says: "It felt that way a little bit.
"Obviously I'm based down south so I didn't get so much around it. And I came out before the September games and said probably the World Cup campaign would be my last one. I still feel that could be the case."
Clarke has been six years in the job. If he is signalling his intent to leave next year it means beginning to assess the job he has done.
"The biggest thing I think we have achieved - apart from the qualifications which breeds what I'm about to say next - is there is a much better connection between the Tartan Army and the people of Scotland," he says.
"My first game was a Saturday afternoon at Hampden and the stadium wasn't full. Now it doesn't matter when we play, the stadium is more or less full every single time. That tells you there has been a connection."
So what about the Clarke legacy?
"It's probably something I'll do when I exit Hampden. And then I have a little look back and if people feel I've done a good job then that would be great."
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