The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Strachan not fazed by calls for change
SCOTLAND: Back-in-favour boss insists he understood reasons for criticism
It isn’t just Scotland’s World Cup hopes that have been transformed over the last four games of the qualifying game.
Manager Gordon Strachan’s approval rating has also soared on the back of three good wins and a draw, that have put the Scots within two victories of a play-off for Russia 2018.
The national coach insisted there was no bitterness or frustration when the criticism of him was at its height and many were calling for him to be sacked.
“I can understand that,” he said of the calls for change. “I don’t have a problem or take offence – as long as it’s done in the right manner.
“As long as it’s not personal, it’s fine to question things.
“I like working with the players and I like my job.
“The worst thing you can do in football is talk about yourself. I have to keep my thoughts to myself.
“It’s pleasing when you look around the dressing-room and players are clapping each other and looking forward to the next game.”
One of the real lows of the early part of the campaign that left Scotland with four points from a possible 12 was a heavy 3-0 defeat in Slovakia.
The return match is up next at Hampden Park, the first half of a doubleheader with Slovakia and Slovenia that need to be won to make those playoffs.
Strachan does not think too much should be read into that loss to the nation that now sits just one point above them in the Group F table.
“It was a strange game,” he recalled. “We got in positions we wanted to and the final pass wasn’t good enough.
“Their first hit at goal went in the net for them. I have to step back from that.”
The Scotland recovery has been one of the most impressive across the European qualifying groups.
“It was going to be hard but the players have shown they can deal with pressure,” Strachan said. “It’s hard
losing games, trust me. And that’s the time you’re tested as a player and a manager. But I didn’t go to a sports psychologist. We did the same things and kept believing.”
Strachan has been involved in qualification-defining nights at Hampden as a player but the modern-day task is a much bigger one, he stressed.
“It was a different thing in the past,” he said. “It wasn’t the 10-game grind that it is now.
“We really only had to beat one team.”