Gordon is our Arsene Wenger – he should choose when to go!
COLIN CALDERWOOD reckons Gordon Strachan should be allowed to stay on as Scotland manager – even if they don’t beat Slovenia tonight and their 2018 World Cup qualification campaigns ends after just five games.
Calderwood believes Strachan should be given the opportunity to decide his own future, just as is the situation with Arsene Wenger at Arsenal. Wenger has struggled with the Gunners in recent times but will decide his own fate in the next week.
Calderwood – who played for Scotland at Euro 96 and France 98 – told The Sunday Post: “I want us to win the game on Sunday and we all know the situation – we have to win, and Gordon hasn’t hidden from that fact.
“He is a talented manager and the right guy to lead the country. I believe he deserves a victory and the chance to continue.
“But, if it doesn’t go to plan against Slovenia, I’d allow Gordon the chance to decide if he wants to stay on for the next campaign. It’s a similar thing with ArseneWenger at Arsenal. Arsene will decide and Gordon should, too.
“I say that because I trust Gordon to be brutally honest about whether he feels he’d be able to get the best out of the squad for the next two years. So, leave it up to him. If he thinks he’s not the right man the he will walk.”
Calderwood is now at AstonVilla as assistant manager to Steve Bruce. Bruce was a team-mate of Strachan’s at Manchester United.
There has been a period of instability at the Midlands club after last season’s relegation to the Championship and then the sacking of Roberto di Matteo after three months in the job.
But Bruce has the knowledge and ability to take Villa back into the EPL in 2018 and Calderwood wants to play his part in the success story.
He said: “We are unfortunate not to be further up the table. We have deserved to win some of the games but not got our just rewards. If the outcome of every game is fair and honest, then I don’t complain. But we have been hard done to.
“Some of our results have scuppered our hopes but we are
putting good habits in place for next season.
“The Championship has a fantastic pedigree and I’ve been lucky enough to win promotion to the EPL at Newcastle. I then had the flip side last season when we lost out in the play-offs when I was assistant manager to Chris Hughton at Brighton. The play-offs are unbelievably exciting but the hurt when you lose is indescribable.
“In terms of finance and prestige, the prize for promotion is getting bigger every year, but I don’t think the league is getting harder. The competition is still as fierce and the desire from owners, to management, to players, and to supporters, is still massive.
“When you do win promotion it is hard to stay in the division. You go from winning 25 – 30 games in the Championship to scrapping for every single point. If you win more than 10 games then you have done well and will more than likely avoid relegation.
“We feel we have a great chance. Steve is an excellent man-manager. He is also a fine man. He is honest and forthright and I enjoy working with him.
“He has been successful for more than 15 years in management and there is more to come at Villa.
“There is a great ambition to win promotion, but there are things we need to still work on to improve.
“We want the players to be noisier a nd di sp l a y their personalities on a match day.
“Sometimes we might have been a little quiet and nervous. We need to change that. We want to show a bit of nastiness, as well as being effective.
“We need to win more games next season and we need to be brutally honest with ourselves. We want Villa Park to be a stadium the opposition are not looking forward to playing at. We want an atmosphere that intimidates the opposition. We want this to be a horrible place to come to.
“The fact is, we are still seen as big scalps and teams raise their game when they play us. They come here and want to impress in front of 30,000 supporters.
“We wanted to be top six this season but that’s now unrealistic.
“So we kick on and make sure we are 100% ready come pre-season and that every person at the football cub knows what’s expected of them when we start the campaign for the 2017-18 season.”