Falkirk boss John McGlynn reckons Scotland’s lack of attacking ambition at this summer’s European Championships in Germany meant that even late Brazilian great Pele in his prime would have struggled up front for Steve Clarke’s men.

The Dark Blues suffered a disappointing first round exit – with boss Clarke’s often defensive tactics being widely criticised by fans and pundits – as they were thumped 5-1 by Germany, earned a creditable 1-1 draw against Switzerland and lost 1-0 to Hungary.

“It’s not for me to tell Steve Clarke what to do. I think all the best players are in the boozers,” McGlynn told the Falkirk Herald.

"If you were looking for entertainment you couldn’t say it was a great spectacle.

Three-time World Cup winner, Brazilian great Pele. (Pic by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

placeholder image — Three-time World Cup winner, Brazilian great Pele. (Pic by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

"It obviously couldn’t happen, but hypothetically it would have been great for us to have qualified and then just started playing the Euros. We were in good form.

"We qualified and then our form dipped after that when we played some of the biggest countries. Taking the heavy defeats to France, England and the Netherlands, not getting the form back and taking that into the tournament, it was always going to be an uphill battle.

"I think Pele could have played up front for us and not done that well because you’ve got to get the ball up to them and we were forced back defending most of the time.

"Lawrence Shankland, Ally McCoist, I think they would all have struggled to be honest with you.

Steve Clarke pictured during Scotland's 5-1 humbling against hosts Germany in Munich at Euro 2024 (Pic by Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images)

"We didn’t quite have our best team available and unfortunately it came back to bite us which happens to most teams.

"No disrespect to Tony Ralston – I think he was flung into the deep end when Aaron Hickey and Nathan Paterson were injured.

"I think we’ve just got to dust ourselves down and get prepared for the next set of qualifiers coming up."

McGlynn said there had been a case for Clarke switching to a back four and giving unused Celtic winger James Forrest action to provide much needed creativity.

John McGlynn will lead Falkirk into the Scottish Championship for the first time in five years this season (Pic by Michael Gillen)

He added: “Steve stuck to what got us there and unfortunately it didn’t work.

"But I think if Steve wants to keep going I would support that. I think it’s important to get the next step right because I don’t think the fans will accept more of that.

"I think the fans, who travelled to Germany in huge numbers, will probably want to see something a little bit more creative and hopefully we can get the players together to do that.”