Strachan’s showed heart, says Dalglish

KENNY Dalglish hopes Gordon Strachan is rewarded for the “guts” and “heart” he showed in continuing as Scotland boss.

Strachan’s future came under scrutiny after consecutive 3-0 defeats left Scotland in fifth place in Group F of Europe’s World Cup qualifiers, but both he and the Scottish Football Association decided to carry on into Sunday’s visit of Slovenia.

And ex-Newcastle boss Dalglish believes his former Scotland teammate deserves a break.

Scotland’s record cap holder said: “I don’t think the SFA were wavering, were they? And I don’t think Gordon was wavering.

“People like to apportion blame, and it’s usually the case that the manager is going to cop it.

“But I don’t think anybody could have done a better job than what wee Gordon has done so far.

“Whether he wants to maintain the role was put in question and he certainly poured cold water over the fire for that one. He certainly came out very strongly.

“And by the way it just shows you how passionate he is. There are a lot of people with less guts and less heart that would have maybe walked away, and maybe less belief in the players would have walked away. So good luck to him.”

Scotland missed out on Euro 2016 after they finished fourth in their group, and results haven’t improved since, though Dalglish remains upbeat.

“It has been disappointing, I think everyone would admit that, and there will be nobody more disappointed than Gordon,” added Dalglish. “But I think it’s moving forward.” Kenny Dalglish