Burley stays on

So, after leading us up the hill, Gordon Smith and George Peat take us back down again with the same man in charge, having assured us that the summit was very professional and all that.

It's hard to work out if the Scottish Football Association is naive, indecisive, or stupid - or a mixture of all three. By announcing a "review" of George Burley's position (despite the fact his contract still had two years to run) before the recent do-or-die qualifiers, the inference was clear - failure to reach the play-offs would result in his removal from the post.

Yet, apparently satisfied by the performances against Macedonia and the Netherlands, they've decided to leave George Burley in charge. He wants the job, which is at least something, and it appears that his recent comments about a lack of support from the SFA have been heeded - though whether they will result in any change for the better is a moot point.

At least the Rangers Rebels have not got their way... and Bazza, Boyd and the rest can reflect at their leisure on their inability to put the country ahead of their own egos.

Knowing Burley's luck, we'll get a terrifying qualifying group for the European Championships, and any faint glimmer of hope will be extinguished by more baffling team selections and subsitutions. We can't be going into the next campaign with a huge amount of hope.

Still, good luck Scotland. One of these days, we might actually qualify for a major tournament, despite ourselves. Even better, we might finally address the underlying problems in our game that seem to hold the Scotland team back.