Sebastien Pocognoli: Scotland's new head coach vows to make Tartan Army 'smile' by bringing more success
The 39-year-old has been appointed as Scotland's new head coach; he won the Belgian league with Union Saint-Gilloise last year and was a free agent after leaving Monaco in June; his first game in charge will be against Slovenia in the Nations League on September 26
Monday 17 August 2026 15:47, UK
"I will be one of yours and I will do my best to make the supporters smile."
Sebastien Pocognoli is determined to do all he can to take Scotland to the next level after being overwhelmed by his "incredible" welcome.
The 39-year-old has been appointed as the nation's new head coach, succeeding Steve Clarke after he stepped down at the end of the World Cup after eight years in charge.
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The former Belgium defender 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 is the second foreign boss of Scotland, coming 22 years after German Berti Vogts' failed spell in charge, and he believes he can build on Clarke's success.
"I will be one of yours and I will do my best to make the supporters in the stadium smiling and enjoying," he told Sky Sports News.
"I would like to bring a good structure on the pitch and give some emotion to the supporters.
"What was done previously with the previous staff, with Steve Clarke, because when you think about Scotland, you think that they are back on the map with World Cup and big tournaments.
"That's a strong foundation that I have to use to combine with my ideas and to find the right balance between this and a new style of play or some new ideas.
"I think that we have to combine the result to be successful. To bring this winning mentality that is already there to be part of a tournament, which is the most important.
"But also to bring a front-feet mentality on the pitch and try to be dominant on and off the ball. I think that we have the players to do it.
"The past is also the DNA of the Scotland football style. I hope I can do a good mix and use all the profile and all the good players that we have to bring this on the pitch."
It is Pocognoli's first step into international management, something he does not believe puts him at a disadvantage.
"The dynamic from a club is very different than an international team," he added.
"You have to bring your concept and your ideas in a very short period of time.
"For that, you need to manage each minute that you have in the camp without overloading the information to the players.
"But to try to find the right balance with the staff and with the players to be the most clear and to have the most open communication through the style of play that I would like to bring on the pitch."
The 'right fit' for Scotland
Pocognoli's appointment comes 50 days after Clarke's decision to walk away after leading Scotland to back-to-back European Championships and a return to the World Cup after 28 years.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell insists they took time to ensure they made the right appointment.
"We are absolutely sure that Seb's the right fit to progress the next evolution of the squad and to build on the success of the foundations laid by Steve and the squad over the last seven years," he said.
"It's an appointment that nobody saw coming, which is a positive. It's been really well received. The Scottish football fans seem to be really looking forward to watching Seb's teams play.
"Things change. Steve was in post for a number of years. When he made the decision that he had to step away following the World Cup, it's right that we review and look at and analyse and understand what we can do slightly differently going forward to see that gradual improvement
"We're sure that Seb's the guy to do that for us on the pitch.
"It's about progress. We're not coming out of this from a place of, it's been a disaster and we need to rip everything up and start again.
"It's about the next stage in the evolution of the team."
Turning Scotland into a 'high performing nation'
Craig Mulholland was appointed by the SFA as chief football officer in May, with his first big challenge to lead the search for the next national head coach.
"The process was long, we met with many people and we were delighted obviously when we ended up with Sebastian," the former Rangers football academy director said.
"For us, there was the data bit so we clearly looked at metrics around playing style, we looked at metrics about what makes a winning Scotland and Sebastian's metrics hit all of that.
"But beyond the data was important as a person because we've got a great group of players, they never call off coming to camp, they love the environment so we had to look the person in the eye and make sure that they would add to what we already have in terms of our culture around the group.
"When we met with Sebastian it was very clear straight away.
"One, he had a massive passion for us becoming a really high performing nation that achieves our objectives but also his own experience as a player, his own experience with different groups both at USG and Monaco means that we think he'll connect well with our group.
"We spent hours talking football, talking players and the work that he's already done leading into the camps is quite incredible."
What awaits the new Scotland boss?
It is straight into the Nations League for Pocognoli, with four games played over two weeks.
The extended international break at the end of September and start of October has been introduced to cut the number of breaks during the club season.
It will give the new head coach an extended period with the Scotland players to get any new ideas across.
His first Scotland game will be away to Slovenia on September 26, with a game against Switzerland at Hampden Park three days later.
Scotland then fly to North Macedonia on October 3 before returning to Glasgow to face Slovenia again on October 6.
It means the Tartan Army will not have to wait too long for his first Scotland squad announcement as a new era for the national side officially gets under way.
Scotland were demoted from Nations League A after a play-off defeat by Greece last year and return to the second tier for this year's competition.
The new boss will then hope to lead Scotland to the UK and Ireland co-hosted Euros in 2028, and then the World Cup in four years.
Who is Sebastien Pocognoli?
Pocognoli is familiar to British audiences from his spells at West Brom and Brighton.
At the Baggies, the left-back made 21 appearances for the then-Premier League club in two years, before dropping down to the Championship to play on loan at Brighton.
Before his time in England, he was part of AZ Alkmaar's title-winning team in the Netherlands in 2009, while he also featured for Belgian clubs Genk and Standard Liege.
During a second spell at Liege after leaving England, he won the Belgian Cup in 2018, but retired three years later in his early 30s.
His final club Union Saint-Gilloise - owned by Brighton owner and Hearts minority stakeholder Tony Bloom - offered him the Under-21s head coach role at the club.
After one season, his first club Genk took him on as Under-18s head coach, while he also worked for Belgium's U16 and U18 youth teams.
USG then offered him the head coach role in the summer of 2024, where he guided the Belgian side to their first league title in 90 years.
Pocognoli was taken to Scotland during his one season at USG, where his team were beaten 2-1 by Rangers in the Europa League.
After winning Belgian Coach of the Year in 2025 and managing USG's first-ever matches in the Champions League, Pocognoli took up the Monaco head coach role in October of last year.
Despite qualifying for Europe with Monaco, he was replaced as head coach on June 1.
