Scotland's Euro 2024 disappointment worse than being sacked by Newcastle - John Carver

Former best coach in the Premier League John Carver has been speaking to the media about Scotland's poor showing at Euro 2024 and likened it to being axed by Newcastle United.

John Carver worked for many years as an assistant coach at Newcastle United, working under Sir Bobby Robson before leaving when Graeme Souness came in, only to return under Alan Pardew.

Carver also had three separate spells in the hot seat as caretaker/interim manager when Newcastle chewed through managers like Chelsea.

He infamously stated in a press conference that he was the best coach in the Premier League at a time when Jose Mourinho (not to mention the 18 other coaches) was in the Premier League.

John Carver says the Euro 2024 showing was worse than being sacked

Now the number two to Steve Clarke, another former Newcastle coach, at the Scotland national team, Carver has been reflecting on Scotland's horrendous showing at Euro 2024 earlier this year.

Scotland picked up one point in the group stages and bowed out of the competition at the first hurdle, something that Carver now tells The Daily Record was the biggest disappointment of his career.

“I’ve got to be honest, in my career it’s probably the biggest disappointment I’ve had. Bear in mind I've lost my job at Newcastle twice, and at Leeds and Sheffield United. This was the biggest disappointment because I had so much excitement going into the tournament on what we had with the players and the staff and how we prepared.

“It was devastating and I found it really difficult to recover. Even going on holiday, it was still in my thoughts. It started changing when we actually arrived back watching games when I came up to Scotland, that’s when you start forgetting about it.

“I know it's different for players because they have a short holiday, they go back to clubs and prepare for their seasons but for me it's been very, very difficult and getting out there on Monday was like a breath of fresh air and I got my spark back. I was down, I was as low as anybody, disappointed.”

It must be tough being a Scotland fan

It's strange to think that the best coach in the Premier League can't get a tune out of the likes of Billy Gilmour, Scott McTominay, Kieran Tierney, Andy Robertson and Che Adams.

In all seriousness, it must have been devastating to watch as a Scotland fan and even worse as a coach.

There's always the Nations League. Whatever the hell that's even meant to be.