Gordon Smith’s take on Scotland boss Gordon Strachan’s position
THE shelf life of any international manager is measured in qualifying campaigns.
When Gordon Strachan led Scotland to a fourth-place finish in the last Euros group, behind Germany, Poland and Republic of Ireland – who qualified for France via the play-offs – I said it was time for him to go.
The SFA Board, on which I once sat as Chief Executive, disagreed.
Gordon was implored to stay on and when he agreed, was given a new two-year deal.
President Alan McRae even spoke of him being the man to lead us to the 2020 Euros.
From that point on, it was important to get behind Gordon. He was, and still is, the leader of the group of men entrusted with trying to deliver us a place in the 2018 World Cup Finals.
Three games into the campaign, albeit three underwhelming games and a comprehensive loss to Slovakia last Tuesday, that remains the case.
Strachan will make the key decisions for the clash with England at Wembley on November 11.
That’s only right. To insert anyone else into the pressure-cooker situation we now face in London, would have been unfair on them.
Win in what the manager himself has described as a “higgledy-piggledy” group which has already thrown up some contrary results, and we’ll be right back in it.
Lose, and Strachan should walk away to let someone else have the opportunity to do better.
By then, we would be staring down the barrel of a wasted year.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but awarding the manager a new contract last year, after he had failed to get us to France, would then seem misguided at best.
Those who argue against change with the question: ‘Aye, but who would we get in his place?’ are missing the point.
The first decision is whether a change is necessary. If it is, you then move to the separate issue of how best to recruit a replacement.
It isn’t hard. You advertise the position widely and see who applies.
From there, you draw up a shortlist of preferred candidates to see if they impress and whether common ground can be reached over terms and conditions.
The last point is important. Fans tend to think there is a bottomless pit available to the SFA to bring in managers. But that is just not the case.
In failing to reach a major Finals for the last two decades, we have missed out not only on great experiences, but on a lot of cash.
It is questionable, for example, whether we would have the sevenfigure sum to buy Michael O’Neill out of his contract with Northern Ireland.
Michael has been mentioned a fair bit in connection with the Scotland job, which makes sense.
He has done a brilliant job with Northern Ireland, a country whose presence at the Euros in the summer only sharpened our own feelings of disappointment at missing out.
They have some good players – with Steven Davis, as Rangers fans can testify, more than decent in the centre of midfield – and excellent team spirit.
What they don’t possess is as talented a squad as Scotland.
Michael is likewise well known in these shores, having both managed and played here.
Personally, though, I would prefer the next manager to be a Scot.
Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes looks a very talented young manager and, if experience were preferred, Alex McLeish would be another good option.
He knows what it takes to win big games in qualifiying campaigns and has the best record of any Scotland boss in recent times.
Those are questions future, though.
For now, we have respect Gordon Strachan’s decision and support him and his players as they chase a Wembley miracle.
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