New Scotland boss Sebastien Pocognoli says the passionate nature of Scottish football was a key factor in him taking the job. Pocognoli, 39, was confirmed as Steve Clarke's successor on Sunday and introduced himself to the media on Monday. Clarke ended his seven-year reign earlier this summer after Scotland failed to progress from the World Cup group stage after a victory over Haiti was followed by defeats to Morocco and Brazil. Former Belgium defender Pocognoli left Monaco at the end of last season and previously led Union Saint-Gilloise to their first league title in 90 years in 2024-25. He becomes just the second foreign boss of the Scotland men's team, after the German Berti Vogts, and believes he has what it takes to build on Clarke's "strong foundation". "I'm very proud to be here," Pocognoli said, flanked by Scottish FA 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. "That's why I'm here."
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Pocognoli wants to create 'high-performing' Scotland The Scottish FA's 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. Pocognoli is taking over a Scotland side that have qualified for back-to-back European Championships and a World Cup, but the SFA are convinced the 39-year-old can take the national team to new heights. "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. "We looked at metrics around playing style - and Sebastien met all of that - but beyond the data what's important is the person. "We had to look the person in the eye and know they would add to what we already have."