Scotland have confirmed the appointment of their new manager, with Sebastien Pocognoli taking the reins following the departure of Steve Clarke. Clarke led the Tartan Army to this summer's World Cup, but it turned out to be a disappointing tournament.
Scotland were eliminated with three points, winning once and scoring only once at the competition. Expectations were not particularly high, but Scotland fans were hoping to at least get through the group stage, given the majority of third place teams also progressed.
Clarke resigned after the World Cup despite recently getting a new contract, and that was against the will of many fans, but he felt as though he took the team as far as he could. Since then, a search has been going on for a replacement, and one has now been found.
Scotland confirm appointment of Sebastien Pocognoli
Scotland have now confirmed the appointment of former AS Monaco boss Sebastien Pocognoli on a two-year contract, meaning he will oversee the upcoming Nations League campaign, as well as the Euro 2028 qualifiers and Euro 2028 itself, which will be a partly home tournament.
Pocognoli's international experience has come in the Belgium setup, previously coaching Belgium under-18s. He has since managed Union SG, where he led them to their first league title in more than 90 years, also securing Champions League qualification for the first time in their history.
He then went on to manage Monaco, but he was sacked after one season, leading them to a seventh-placed finish. Pocognoli is only 39 years of age and only five years removed from his playing career, which saw him play for English clubs West Brom and Brighton, among many others.
Scottish FA CEO Ian Maxwell said of the appointment: “We are delighted to have Sébastien on board.
“He was the standout candidate from a thorough process: a very impressive individual, with a real desire to take on the role and a clear vision for how he wants to go about it.
“Sébastien inherits a talented squad who just took us to a first FIFA World Cup in 28 years, and I’d like to reiterate my thanks to Steve Clarke and his staff for their work and the foundations they’ve put in place. I’m excited to see how we build on that ahead of a new UEFA Nations League campaign.”
What Pocognoli has said
Speaking during the announcement of his appointment, Pocognoli added: “It’s an honour to be asked to become the Head Coach of the Scotland National Team.
“When I first heard of the interest, I was immediately excited about the opportunity. Scotland’s supporters are famous for their passion – most recently at the World Cup in the USA - and I have experienced it myself as a player for Belgium when we played in 2013.
“Along with my coaching staff, I will do everything I can to give them a team to be proud of and build on the success that has been achieved already by my predecessor.
“Since negotiations began, I have been doing a lot of research, asking a lot of questions and looking at areas that we can build on. I am hugely excited by the prospect and look forward to working with the players to achieve even more success.
“We don’t have long until the first camp, so the coming weeks will be spent preparing for the UEFA Nations League and putting those plans into action on the training pitch when we meet up next month.”
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