Mcleish brushes off quit calls after fiasco
● I’ll keep doing my job, says Scotland boss despite fan fury at Kazakhstan humbling
Alex Mcleish has insisted he is determined to continue doing his job after Scotland’s first Euro 2020 group qualifier ended in embarrassment and calls for the manager to be dismissed.
Optimism over Scotland’s latest campaign evaporated inside ten minutes after Kazakhstan took a shock 2-0 lead in the Astana Arena.
Such was the nature of the 3-0 defeat – striker Baktiyor Zainutdinov added a third shortly into the second half – that Mcleish already faced questions about his future.
The manager has led Scotland to a play-off place thanks to top spot in their Nations League qualifying group but losing to a team ranked 117th in the world saw him asked if the strong reaction from fans to last night’s defeat meant he would consider his position.
“I will just continue to do my job,” he said. “Suffice to say I’m not going to get drawn into that question.”
He sought to clear up what happened following the final whistle when Scott Mctominay headed straight down the tunnel rather than head to the area where 600 disillusioned Scots stood following the 4,000-mile trip through six time zones to Astana. Skipper Callum Mcgregor appeared to row with coach James Mcfadden after displaying unhappiness with Mctominay. Mcleish revealed the Manchester United midfielder “had a stomach upset” and was heading straight to the bathroom.
Mcgregor later explained why he had let frustration get the better of him.
“It was nothing personal,” he said. “I didn’t even shout
to James. One of the boys [Mctominay] had gone in early and I wanted us all to go over and clap the fans. It was nothing… just that as captain I felt we should go to the fans who had spent a lot of money to come here and support the
nation. I thought we should get everyone together to say thank you for coming. It was nothing to do with James, I was just trying to get everyone together to go to the fans.”
Mcleish pointed out there are still nine games to be
played and 27 points on offer. Losing the first match certainly counts as a setback but Mcleish maintained it doesn’t necessarily have to be a fatal blow to Scotland’s
ambitions. He said: “It’s never finished until it’s finished. We bounced back from a poor performance in Israel [in the Nations League] and that’s what we must do after this game.
“We have other players with more experience to come back to the Scotland squad. Obviously we need to have as strong a squad as we can if we’re going to be strong in qualification.”
The team Mcleish picked was Scotland’s youngest for a competitive fixture since the 1970s. “There is a lot of inexperience in the squad,” he said. “We’ve introduced a few new names in the last year or so and it’s a process where it can take time but I know we don’t have any time. I want to get these lads playing to the level that we demand on the international scene but it’s not easy for players to come from no experience straight into the international team.”
Mcleish refused to consider whether the 3-0 defeat was his worst-ever as a manager. Some believe it registers as Scotland’s worst-ever loss.
Last year’s 2-0 defeat by Israel, ranked at 94, was the previous lowest point, at least officially in terms of Fifa rankings.
Kazakhstan were winless in all ten of their 2018 World Cup qualifiers and only gained a single victory – 1-0 in Latvia – in their qualifying campaign for Uefa Euro 2016.
“I don’t really rank defeats,” said Mcleish. “I just feel in terms of losing I have to bounce back.”
Scotland will aim to do so against San Marino, who, at 211, are the lowest ranked team in world football. Kieran Tierney was last night ruled out of the match having failed to recover from his hip injury.
Mcleish will be desperate that Andy Robertson’s travel plans run smoothly. The Liverpool left-back is due to join up with the squad today in Italy, where Scotland are based prior to Sunday night’s next Group I fixture.