Steve Clarke steps down from Scotland job: Nothing to do with choosing successor, SFA says

“It’s ultimately his decision. I can understand why. Obviously, we didn’t perform as well as we wanted. There were some fairly hysterical comments back home, which didn’t help but ultimately it’s down to Steve.

“We need to be proud of the journey that got us here. We need to be incredibly proud of our supporters. They’ve traveled thousands. They’ve lit up America.”

Of the new deal, announced at the end of May, Maxwell said: “We wanted to come into the competition as stable as possible. Extending his contract did that. It precluded any discussion of what was going to happen next.

“Obviously, we found ourselves in a position that nobody wanted to be in. We wanted to perform well, we wanted to do what no Scotland team had done before in the group stage. We didn’t achieve that.”

And Maxwell praised Clarke’s record, saying: “He’s been incredible. If we’d sat down seven years ago when we appointed him and said, ‘This is how it’s going to be for the next seven years’, everyone would have bitten your hand off for it.

“He’s been great to us. The last thing I want is for his reputation or legacy to be tarnished in any way, shape or form. It’s important that we recognize his remarkable achievements.

“The meeting last night where he told the players, the emotion of it tells you how much they think of him and how much he thinks of them and we can’t beat that.”