Fergie had the same fears as Strachan in ’86
Managers are never in the right frame of mind to pass comments immediately after the final whistle.
That is especially the case in the minutes after their team has crashed out of the World Cup – again.
Yet that’s exactly what Gordon Strachan did when Scotland failed to qualify for Russia next summer by only drawing against Slovenia last Sunday.
A clearer-thinking Strachan would never have said: “Genetically we are behind. Maybe we should be getting big women and men together and see what we can do.”
That quote was used to beat him in the countdown to his career as Scotland boss ending four days later.
Although it’s written in Sky Sport’s contract with the SFA that managers must be available for interview immediately after the final whistle, it’s totally unfair to thrust a mike under the nose of an emotional boss so soon after a game.
Strachan explained what he perceives as a major problem for Scotland far better a year ago.
He said: “You need a balance between height, strength and ability. If you’ve got the whole package that’s a real bonus.
“Unfortunately we don’t have too many with the whole package.”
That comment came in the cold light of dawn after being given time to reflect properly after a defeat.
Strachan isn’t the first – and he certainly won’t be the last – to regret being forced into uttering the first thing that comes into his head immediately after the final whistle.
In 1986, I remember sitting up half the night with Alex Ferguson after an unfancied Gothenburg team had knocked Aberdeen out of the European Cup quarter-final on the away goals rule.
Fergie’s thoughts were similar to Strachan’s, in that Gothenburg had more-balanced athletes, who were also blessed with skill and pace.
Although they didn’t have a single player under 6ft tall, they were no lumbering giants.
In those days, television demands on managers were not nearly as pressing as they are today.
So by time the Dons boss and myself set about emptying the fridge in his hotel room, he’d had time to choose his words carefully.
Fergie, who would be in charge of Scotland at the World Cup Finals in Mexico a few months later, focused on diet.
“People in Scotland make sure they put four- star petrol in their cars – but they don’t bother what they put in their stomachs,” he said. “We’ve become a nation of junk-food eaters. “The Swedes had so much more strength and athleticism than us.
“So our footballers must develop better strength in their upper body.”
When that story appeared in print four days later, it wasn’t seen as an excuse that didn’t add up.
Sadly, over 31 years later, Gordon Strachan’s was.