Disaster Index: 5.1 Entry: Contractual Hesitation, Pre-Tournament Cause: The head coach of the national team required to apply personal pressure to the governing body to secure his own contract extension weeks before a World Cup. Category: Administrative Evidence: Clarke confirmed the SFA was "hedging its bets" before his renewal. The phrase "a little shove" is his; the governing body did not move without it. A manager arrived at a World Cup having already had to argue for his own presence. Historical precedent: Governing-body ambivalence toward its own head coach in the approach to a tournament has precedent in Scottish football administration. The mechanism recurs with sufficient regularity to have earned a category. Affected parties: Steve Clarke; the Scottish FA; the squad's pre-tournament stability readings. Immediate outlook: The contract was signed. The shove was necessary. Both facts are now in the record. Filed: 2026-09-05 / Pre-tournament, pre-Haiti baseline