The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Whyleveinis unlikelytosurvive anothersetback
SCOTLAND MANAGER Craig Levein flies out to Belgium this afternoon, knowing he is probably just one game away from the sack.
Levein is an honourable and intelligent man. He is someone who takes no prisoners, a lesson learned through personal experience when he bossed Dundee United.
He has also, though, earned the respect of those who have worked with him both inside the game and in the media. That certainly includes the Scotland players currently under his management.
The reason he is unlikely to survive yet another setback in Brussels in the wake of Friday’s failure against Wales is not that people who dislike him want him hounded out.
It is because he is employed to get the country to the finals of a major tournament for the first time since 1998 and looks certain to fail on that score.
People are all simply fed up of missing out on World Cups and European Championships.
The national coach may have survived the curse of Cardiff previous bosses George Burley and BertiVogts were not so lucky after losing there but that Gareth Bale-inspired win for theWelsh has left Levein wounded, with a record of only three victories in 11 competitive games since he moved to Hampden from Tannadice in December 2009.
His team now sits second bottom in GroupA, with just two points from the disappointing home draws with Serbia and Macedonia.
That is simply not good enough for the Tartan Army, many of whom headed straight from the Welsh capital to the Belgian one.
They have spent goodness knows how much of their hard-earned cash for the dubious pleasure of backing their team and they deserve better for their superb support.
Levein has all but pleaded to stay in the job beyond tomorrow night’s clash at the King Baudouin Stadium regardless of the outcome and his players appear to be behind him.
Mind you, the squads of the time backed Burley andVogts, too, before the axe fell on them.
Brazil in 2014 seems a long way away now and that is a shame not only for Levein but for the whole of Scotland’s football-loving public.