Sebastien Pocognoli appointed Scotland manager and cites connection to 'passionate' Scottish football
Sebastien Pocognoli said he "feels connection" with Scottish football after being confirmed as Scotland manager on Sunday and introducing himself to the media on Monday.
Pocognoli, 39, succeeds Steve Clarke, who ended a seven-year reign earlier this summer after Scotland failed to progress from their World Cup group despite a victory over Haiti followed by defeats by Morocco and Brazil. The new boss left Monaco at the end of last season and previously guided Union Saint-Gilloise to their first league title in 90 years in 2024-25. He becomes only the second foreign manager of the Scotland men's team, following the German Berti Vogts, and has said he can build on Clarke's "strong foundation".
"I'm very proud to be here," Pocognoli said, flanked by Scottish Football Association (SFA) chiefs Ian Maxwell and Craig Mulholland at his introduction. "It's a very strong challenge, with a project to develop the future of Scottish football. There are the metrics, but the human aspect was also very important. I never go to a challenge where I can't feel the connection. "Scotland is a passionate country and I think also, regarding the strong foundation that Steve Clarke and his staff laid, that I can use this heritage to put the next accent on the style of play while also developing players for the future.
SFA chief football officer Muholland and chief executive Maxwell travelled around the world speaking to potential candidates, and the former says Pocognoli impressed both in a data sense and on a personal level. "Sebastien had a massive passion for us becoming a high-performing nation," Mulholland said. "We know what our ambitions are. "Before you go on the coach search you have to understand what successful nations do to continually get to where we want to be. "We did a lot of data and from that, we created a set of metrics that led us to a bunch of coaches. Ian [Maxwell] and I went on our travels - so many coaches had a passion for Scotland.
Pocognoli is taking over a Scotland side that have qualified for back-to-back European Championships and a World Cup, but the SFA is convinced the 39-year-old can take the national team to new heights.
"We looked at metrics around playing style - and Sebastien met all of that - but beyond the data what's important is the person," Mulholland added. "We had to look the person in the eye and know they would add to what we already have."