The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Playing for high stakes:
Under-pressure boss understands the consequences of getting it wrong
Scotland manager Gordon Strachan ponders tomorrow’s mustwin World Cup qualifier against Slovenia at Hampden.
Scotland manager Gordon Strachan believes deciding who starts up front against Slovenia will be one of the biggest decisions of his managerial career.
Steven Fletcher, Leigh Griffiths, Chris Martin, Steven Naismith and Jordan Rhodes are the five attackers in contention to start against Slovenia in tomorrow evening’s must-win World Cup qualifier.
On-loan Sheffield Wednesday forward Rhodes is the only one of the five who has been a regular starter at club level and Strachan admits he has spent plenty of time pondering who will lead the line in a game his team can’t afford to lose.
Strachan, whose side drew 1-1 with Canada at Easter Road on Wednesday, said: “Is it one of the biggest decisions I will have made? Yes. We can’t afford to get it wrong.
“I don’t think we could have done any more coaching on shape or things like that. Management at club level is all about recruitment and making sure you gettherightpeople.Atinternationallevel it is all about picking the right people on the day.
“I have got to back myself to make the right call and we understand the consequences.
“I want one of them to step forward and make a case to be picked. It will be up to me to decide and we may end up playing two up front. That is something we have got to look at but someone has to come to the fore to lead the line.
“I have a really good idea about the rest of the players that will be playing but it is about deciding who is the best striker – or two – that is compatible with the rest of the team.”
Scotland required a last-minute leveller from James McArthur to scrape a 1-1 draw with Lithuania on their last outing at Hampden in October.
That was followed by successive 3-0 defeats by Slovakia and England to leave Strachan’s side second bottom of the group.
The Scotland manager added: “England only had three shots on target against us. I was really pleased with the performance, which you may think is a bit silly. I felt the players were unfairly treated by the footballing gods.
“We will produce something like that again but we will score a goal. We will be better than we were against Canada on Wednesday.
“Sometimes to learn a few things you have to take a smack and that was what happened. Playing the game was one of the best decisions we have made.
“It maybe wasn’t a great night for us but hopefully we will produce a performance on Sunday that will make that game worthwhile.”
Meanwhile defender Russell Martin feels the Scots have struggled to shake off their Euro 2016 disappointment – but
claims victory over Slovenia would spark a revival.
A 5-1 win in Malta in their opening World Cup qualifier suggested Scotland had put their loss to Georgia and a fourth-placed finish in the Euro 2016 preliminaries behind them – but it proved a false dawn
They have since scored only once, conceding seven, and are four points behind tomorrow’s second-placed opponents.
Martin said: “I think the disappointment of not qualifying, when we played so well for the majority of the campaign, and one result probably cost us... I think that is disappointing for people and it’s tough to take and we maybe haven’t quite got over that quickly enough.
“But performances haven’t been terrible. We have been one or two passes away, where it was clicking earlier on in the last campaign. We have been a fraction off it. But there’s no one reason. If there was one reason, we would have rectified it.
“But we are working hard. Everyone still believes in what the manager wants to do...
“The most important thing is, regardless of what’s gone on in the last three or four games, if we win on Sunday, we are right back in the mix and have a right chance of moving on up the group and qualifying... We need a little spark in this campaign and hopefully Sunday will be it.”
For some fans, the spark would come from a change in management but Martin refuses to countenance the consequences of defeat for Gordon Strachan.
“For me personally I don’t think about that,” the Norwich player said. “I think we are going to win the game and we move on from there. Obviously that’s a bridge we’ll have to cross if we don’t get the result that we want.
“But the manager has been fantastic to me and a lot of the lads in the squad. He has given most of us a chance, a lot of caps, and a few lads in the squad have played with him before.
“Everyone enjoys working with him, everyone likes him, and we need to make sure we show that on Sunday and put in a performance to make sure there are no question marks after Sunday, where we are going and where we are heading in the campaign.”
Hampden is expected to be little over half full for the crucial encounter but Martin – who was dropped for the England clash after starting 16 of the previous 17 qualifiers – is confident they will not let any subdued atmosphere affect their performance.
The 31-year-old added: “Hopefully we put in a performance that makes sure next time we play it’s full up.
“There’s been a lot of negativity around the last couple of results, which we understand, this is football.
“But we’ve got a big game on Sunday, everyone needs to come together – fans, staff, players, media, everyone needs to be positive towards Sunday so we can get a result. After Sunday, say what you want.”