So, crunch time in the World Cup qualifying campaign, with a must-win game against the Netherlands at Hampden this evening. A tall order, but then Berti Vogts (!) managed a 1-0 against the Dutch in Glasgow, so anything is possible.
Scotland may well end up runners-up in this qualifying group, and George Burley would be justified in claiming that this is all he could be reasonably be expected to achieve. But, of course, it's been a harrowing journey at times, not helped by an unkind schedule that has seen us wilt in a Macedonian heat wave and play a crucial tie in Norway during pre-season.
Burley's attempts to reshape the team as a more fluid unit have been laudable but ham-fisted. Along the way he has chopped David Weir in and out of the side and pissed off that Rangers quartet - Lee McCulloch, Bazza, Alan McGregor and Kris Boyd. And that has given the tabloids plenty of ammunition to kick him when things have gone wrong.
The Scottish Football Association will soon have a decision to make. If they sack Burley, they need to appoint yet another new man, and cross their fingers that it works out. This isn't the way to run a football team in an ideal world.
On the other hand, Burley has made a number of costly mistakes, and has failed to get the media on side. The job is about politics as well as football, but either he hasn't grasped this truth, or he's too stubborn to change his ways.
Not everything that has been thrown at Burley has been fair, but the results just haven't been good enough. Tonight's match may help answer whether or not he should stay at the helm.
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