Fear of failure is driving Strachan’s desire to make amends to the Tartan Army

GORDON STRACHAN insists he is not fearful about being fired. He is frightened, however, of failing the nation. Terrified by the thought of letting down those closest to him in the Scotland camp who trust him to make the right calls. Scared stiff of seeing players he is so fond of spiral towards international retirement without experiencing the highs he lapped up as a player.

That’s why Strachan now explains, after a short spell spent musing over the immediate future while speculation about his job swirled around and successors were suggested, he will not leave them this way.

As manager, it is his qualification mess to sort out and he has already started to plot a tactical plan to overthrow England. After a sleepless night then days of soul-searching, Strachan was finally refreshed by Friday morning and back at the controls of his football study, sifting through the damage of a desperate week against Lithuania and Slovakia.

He had been examining the game from a camera angle behind the goal, sifting through the wreckage of a 3-0 defeat for clues on how he is going to stop the Auld Enemy from scoring on November 11.

Hours after considering his immediate future, listening to the concerns of close family and exchanging messages with players and staff, Strachan was preparing for the game that will either revive a World Cup campaign and his national team tenure or bring them to a deflating close.

Strachan said: ‘We’ve got to look at those games now, pick out the best bits — what we like, what we don’t like — then think: “Right, how do we do it when we go to Wembley”. Let’s make sure England don’t score. If that happens, we’ve got a good chance of winning. And, at this moment in time, I’ve got some ideas in my head, that’s for sure.

‘It will benefit us greatly if we can make sure we don’t lose a goal down there because, at this moment in time, we have to score two at least to win a game of football. I know there were friendlies we won 1-0 but we had to rely on goalkeepers in those two.’

So the fatigue and fog has cleared for Strachan to see a way forward to Wembley. Contrast that enthusiasm and frenzy for a fix with the mood on arrival at Glasgow Airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

He stripped back some of the most troubled days of his managerial career to reveal the thought process of a ghastly 48 hours that led to the confirmation that he would remain as Scotland boss.

Strachan said: ‘You get on the team bus to go to the airport, you get the plane, then you have to drive home immediately after it at quarter past three, with my wife to get to a funeral in the morning. So you think over: “What is the best for people — players, supporters, backroom staff, those who support you?”

‘That goes through your mind for the next day or so. But you have to watch. Like any traumatic experience, you must sit back and let the tiredness go away. Let the disappointment go away. Because I didn’t have sleep for 36 hours.

‘Then it turns to: “Where do we stand, what do we want to do?” The outcome of it all was, (Thursday) morning: “What is the best team? What can we do to make sure we don’t let any goals in at Wembley?”

‘That’s been the sequence of how my brain has been turning over since Tuesday night. As I sit here now, I’ve spoken to players, texted players, made sure everyone else is all right. And I’ve starting to put the thinking cap on.’

The appliance of that item of headwear, it is hoped, leads Strachan to figure out how fortunes have nosedived so spectacularly in little over 13 months. At the end of August last year, Strachan boldly talked of Scotland being one of three nations — Germany and Poland were the others — that could win their European Championship qualifying group. A week later, Georgia dealt a fatal blow to that objective.

Only Gibraltar and Malta have been defeated by Scotland in competitive action since. Strachan’s reign has unravelled to the stage that an 89th-minute James McArthur equaliser was needed to prise one point from a double-header at home to Lithuania and away against a Slovakian team that had failed to score in their four previous internationals.

AT THE equivalent stage of Euro 2016 qualifying, a 2-2 result in Poland was praiseworthy. The Republic of Ireland were up next at Celtic Park. Shaun Maloney, Ikechi Anya, James Morrison and Steven Naismith were playing vibrant roles. They are now barely utilised in this regressive year.

Yet Strachan can still remember the surge of joy from beating the Irish 1-0, stirring belief that the major tournament exile was on the brink of being beaten. He must believe he is closer to unlocking that feeling again than he is from walking away.

Strachan explained: ‘If I ever did think: “I don’t need this”, then that would be really selfish. I’ve been close to cracking it once. Remember what it’s like jumping about, winning, getting good results and how that makes you feel.

‘So never at any time do you say: “I don’t need this” because the group of people I work with and the people who come to support us are so fantastic that the memories of getting these results always linger in the back of your head — no matter how down you get.

‘There’s no doubt about it: you get down. There is no tablet you can take. Then speak to players, get texts from players, guys who didn’t even play.

‘They’re right up for it again. They want to do something about it. They, like myself, hope the fans can be proud of them, hope we can keep the dream going. That’s why we’re here.

‘What makes me think we can get a result against England? Because we’re good. Most footballers, we can go: “That’s done”. And get on with it. It’s a challenge. You’ve seen people written off in football. Then see a fantastic performance. It happens.

You it appears.think there’s not much hope and then

‘There are times when people are tested. And this is a testing time for Scottish football. We’ve all been in these positions. I’m 59, I’ve been through them when your back is up against the wall, when life seems a bit harsh.’

The intensity of the pressure on Strachan’s position and the desperation for a result will begin to ramp up again when he gathers a squad together for the first competitive international against England since 1999.

‘It won’t be a real problem to myself because when I get back into the environment with the players, I lose myself in the energy and professionalism that they bring,’ he said.

‘I have to make sure that doesn’t encroach on the players’ enjoyment.

‘Sometimes players can feel for a manager too much and that can affect

them. I have to make sure that they know fine well that, for me, getting the sack is not a problem. I don’t fear the sack because I’m 59.

‘I’m all right. I’ve got loads to do in my life. I’ve been so lucky in football to get to places that people only dream of. What it’s like to take a group of fans with you. What it’s like to make a whole country proud of you.

‘But do I fear not working with these players? Yes. Do I fear not working with the staff? Yes. My thought was: “How do we get these players, this staff, these fans, everybody, to a tournament?” Because I know once you get to a tournament they are so fantastic.

‘My only fear is not being able to achieve. And help people get to places that I know are fantastic places to be. So not helping people get to where they want to go — that would be a problem to me. That would be the thing I would have to live with.’