Steve Clarke’s resignation as Scotland manager was only a matter of time after his side only beat Haiti 1-0 in their World Cup opener.The Scottish boss announced his exit just minutes after the nation had been knocked out of the tournament.Scotland’s first World Cup since 1998 has ended with a whimperGettyWhy did Steve Clarke resign?Croatia’s 2-1 win over Ghana confirmed that ‘the Black Stars’ would take a spot in the knockout stage as one of the best third-place teams.This meant Scotland were unable to be one of those eight teams who qualify by the skin of their teeth.They got the only points of their Group C campaign with a 1-0 win over Haiti in their opening match.However, many felt this was an underwhelming result and performance as the Scots hunkered down and were comfortably outshot.They only managed three on target themselves, which included John McGinn‘s deflected first-half goal.This put them in a tough position, knowing goal difference would be key, given results would be hard to come by against Morocco and Brazil.Scotland lost those two respective games by 1-0 and 3-0, leaving them relying on other results to go for them.However, almost every score went against them in the end, and they were sent packing on Saturday night after an agonising wait.Resignation reactionAnd reacting to the news just minutes after the announcement on talkSPORT, Scottish football manager Mark McGhee explained the Haiti result left him in an untenable position, despite signing a new four-year deal only a month ago.Asked if he was surprised about the resignation, he said: “I’m not because I think he would sense that he’s lost the trust of the Tartan Army. I think there was a bit of a backlash, and I think the backlash wouldn’t be temporary.Scott McTominay underperformed at the World Cup, given his excellent form with NapoliGetty“I think that people felt, as he said, it was a great run; he’s had some great moments. Bringing us here was obviously the ultimate one.“But probably he’d be stepping back into a kind of emotional vacuum, and people were thankful that he got us here, but so disappointed in the results and most of the performances.“I think we all felt that we could accept, if we’d thrashed Haiti, we could still have been through even losing to Brazil and Morocco.“So everyone was just so disappointed. I think it actually made his job untenable.”He added: “Those results did matter. You could calculate that before the tournament even started, and that’s the way it’s worked out.“If you look at the table, we’re going to end up not qualifying on goal difference. If they’d gone out and thrashed Haiti 4-0, they could afford to lose by a goal or two to Morocco and Brazil and still qualify. So that was a disappointment.The Tartan Army had the time of their lives, but the performances didn’t follow from their teamGetty“The way it was set out, it felt to me as if even against Haiti, there was a kind of safety element to it that we’re not going to lose this game. First and foremost, we must win this game. And that was true, of course. But it wasn’t enough.“We had to caveat into that, that we had to win the game. But we had to win it by more than one goal, because one goal wasn’t going to be enough.“The likelihood would be that we would lose to Morocco and to Brazil, so we had to give ourselves some sort of margin for error. And we didn’t do that because the performance against Haiti was diabolical.”The decision to hand Clarke a new deal on the eve of the tournament backfired, and despite the woeful performances, McGhee insisted fans should still be thankful for their former manager’s services.He added: “Signing a new contract before the World Cup, I think we all found that a bit odd, and we knew that there’s always a danger that it doesn’t go right.“We’re here. I’ve been to the three games. And they’ve been abject at best.Clarke has resigned after seven years in charge of Scotland“I think that all of the Scotland fans in Boston, in New York, and in Miami have been absolutely incredible. And they’ve had such a party. And we’ve got Steve to thank for that.“So let’s not forget that. We do have Steve and the team to thank, to thank for giving us all the opportunity to have an experience of a lifetime, really. It’s been unbelievable.“But unfortunately, the performances within all of that, the party was great, but the performances have been, as I say, best abject.”Who next for Scotland?The conversation will swiftly move on to who should replace Clarke, and one man out of work is attracting particular interest – ex-Celtic and Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou.And it’s an appointment talkSPORT’s Scotland correspondent Shebahn Aherne can get behind.She told the World Cup Weekender: “I’m seeing a lot of love for Ange Postecoglou, and we know my feelings on him, so I like the idea of that.Postecoglou guided Spurs to a first European trophy since 1984 in his second season and is a Celtic hero for winning a trebleShutterstock Editorial“Again, with this team, we could be more. You look at these teams following in third place, that should have been us. We could have been there. We have the team, we’ve got the personnel to do that.“It’s now about finding the right person who can make them believe that when they’re playing for Scotland.“We need to bring someone in who can bring that out of us and be that team that can be hard to beat and be feared.“I’m sick of hearing people say, ‘Good team, get over yourself’. This is the best team I’ve ever seen. It’s unlucky, good luck to him (Clarke), and Big Ange in.”