McLeish has a month to sort this out or the axe will surely fall...

THIRTY-TWO days to find the answers. For Alex McLeish, the time frame now seems clear. Coming up with the appropriate solutions is the more opaque aspect of the month or so until Scotland step into the Loro Borici Stadium in Shkoder.

While the UEFA Nations League may have been designed to offer a second chance of reaching Euro 2020 via a play-off, its creation also splits campaigns in a way not present before.

The black-and-white judgment of a final points table now arrives after just four games. Decisions can be influenced by that evidence.

If Scotland cannot top Group 1 of Nations League C — spurning their easiest chance of progression — it’s stating the obvious to say the SFA would have to consider whether McLeish is the right man to remain in charge for the start of the regular qualifiers in March. His case would not be strong. Public opinion would doubtless harden.

Defeat in Albania on November 17 would push the national side to the very brink of that position. UEFA’s system for sorting out teams tied on points actually means a narrow loss could be redeemed by a strong victory over Israel at Hampden three days later.

But does anyone really want to consider such a pitiful prospect? Rightly, McLeish and his charges speak only of two wins to try to dispel the mounting gloom.

The 59-year-old knows where he stands. A successful ten-game first spell at the helm of the national team came after Treble-winning glories with Rangers. Further time working in England, Belgium and Egypt gives him a full appreciation of management’s hard edges.

He remains confident he can recover from the scrapes already inflicted by six defeats in eight matches to prevail in this latest role.

But how does he get there? Certainly, there are no shortage of questions worth pondering during the coming few weeks.

In terms of personnel, a resolution to the Leigh Griffiths situation would be in everyone’s interests. McLeish has claimed he has no personal problem with the Celtic striker’s decision to withdraw from the squad to concentrate on ‘his fitness’ but the timing was clearly damaging.

Griffiths had been bitterly disappointed to be overlooked in favour of Steven Naismith and Johnny Russell for the win over Albania, yet claimed he had ‘not taken the huff’ and expressed a desire to return to the squad in the future.

While Naismith has more than merited his place, scoring again in Sunday’s friendly defeat to Portugal, Scotland could do with its most natural goalscorer being available and firing for two pivotal games. For all of Oli McBurnie’s potential, the Swansea youngster has yet to convince he is ready to be a regular at senior international level.

Indeed, this relative shortage of viable forward options is one area where McLeish feels the job has become harder than first anticipated when appointed in February.

‘It probably is due to losing a lot of the strikers we have had over the past few years,’ he said.

‘That’s been diminished and we have had to call up younger players such as Oli McBurnie from the Under-21s.

‘He’s still a work-in-progress and has had a good start to the season. We’re not prolific but guys like Ryan Fraser can play a part and are vying for places against James Forrest.

‘We have good competition for places in these areas and then there are others where we need to toughen up.’

That situation might yet lead to a recall for Steven Fletcher who, at 31, is scoring at Sheffield Wednesday. The public desire to keep seeing fresh faces tends to diminish when results have been so poor.

In truth, though, many of Scotland’s issues lie at the opposite end of the field. Only Allan McGregor’s excellence prevented an all-out humiliation in Israel last Thursday and defensive frailties were again exposed by Portugal.

Finding the right midfield balance to offer effective screening is also an issue — with Kevin McDonald failing to impress — but the question of whether it is a back three, as in Haifa, or back four, as on Sunday, has become the dominant tactical point of McLeish’s second tenure. The players looked more comfortable within the latter set-up for the first hour against Portugal. Several key players could return.

Asking Kieran Tierney to play right-back in a four could now be worth reprising. The Celtic star’s attacking threat would be blunted, but his defensive capabilities are superior to any alternative.

‘It was a good shape and very compact and we controlled the first half against their guys in wide areas,’ said McLeish, reflecting on the 4-4-1-1 used at the weekend.

‘Our full-backs dealt with things well and there was good discipline. It looked good. I’m not blind and not daft. We have persevered with the three and it didn’t work in Israel but I don’t think that was strictly the main problem.’

McLeish may ignore the Twitter flak, but admits he has still felt the heat ever since that debacle in Israel. None of which is to say he is without support. His former Aberdeen team-mate, Willie Miller, did not spare Scotland criticism for their performance in Haifa.

Yet he strongly argues McLeish deserves the chance to go right through the Euro 2020 process.

‘Alex McLeish has been invited to be the manager to get us qualified for the European Championships, so why don’t we give him that time?’ Miller told BBC Scotland.

‘I am one of the very few who said one chance is enough. The last two managers have been given chances to qualify for a Euros and World Cup and now we are talking about not giving this manager one chance. I don’t think that makes sense.’

There is logic to what Miller says but McLeish needs to offer signs of optimism. Plotting a path out of this current predicament is the first and most essential task.