Burley goes...

He's staying, then he's going, then he's... nah he's gone.

We're all now agreed that Burley was shite as Scotland gaffer. He may have been unlucky, but his plan to add more attacking flair to the rigid platform built by Smith and McLeish failed, and his man-management was as bad as his media performances. Good-bye.

Who's next? The BBC has dutifully covered the early candidates (watch this spectacularly amateurish video, where poor Craig Brown tries to finish his latte while assessing the options, and then offers himself for any work going).

Fuck Walter Smith.

Jimmy Calderwood would be "honoured" to get the job, and we like Jimmy. But his cup record with Aberdeen was woeful, so that rules him out.

Craig Levein looks too embedded with Dundee Utd to move, and anyway he's too spiky for the SFA.

Jim Jefferies is "flattered" by the link, and he's a viable candidate. A grumpy candidate, but viable.

John Collins would be a good choice, if his media savvy was as sharp as his tactical brain, and he would commit Scotland to at least trying to pass the ball. But mud still sticks from his fall-outs with players and directors at Hibs.

Billy Stark from the u21s? Low media profile, knows the set-up, it's a promotion that's worked in the past.

Gary McAllister? Poor coaching record so far, but surely he's going to prove himself as a manager somewhere?

There's no obvious choice, because it's not a hugely inspiring list so far. At least Graeme Souness has ruled himself out.

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.

Mon Scotland!

August is the wrong time to be playing crucial World Cup qualifying matches, as George Burley knows. Still, now's not the time to discuss how we got into this - instead, all the focus needs to be on beating Norway this afternoon.

Scotland seem to have enough up front to cause Norway problems, and surely between Ross McCormack, James McFadden, even Kenny Miller or Steven Fletcher, we can get a goal. The real test will be at the back: if the Caldwell brothers play together as expected, let's hope they use some brotherly understanding to form a tight grip on the game, especially if Alan Hutton and Steven Whittaker are the two full backs.

They are both decent footballers, but they are not the most defensively-minded.

More trouble for Burley

As if Saturday's 0-0 draw against Norway hadn't done enough to make it a miserable weekend for George Burley, Kris Boyd's graceless announcement that he won't put himself forward for another squad while the current manager is in charge has added to his woes.

Boyd has never been a critical member of the Scotland team. Previous managers have shared Burley's concerns about his work rate and general contribution to the team. But sport is often about moments, and you know - just know - that he would have buried the chance that Chris Iwelumo scaffed horribly wide with the goal begging. Instead, Boyd was left on the bench while the Wolves striker came on to make a debut that nightmares are made of.

Burley's a strong character and will shrug this latest bit of bad news off. But he's now under even more pressure than before.

Back on track

Well, it may have been overshadowed by England's shredding of Croatia, but no matter - Scotland's 2-1 win away in Iceland has got the World Cup qualifying campaign up and running, and suddenly the mood is much brighter!


After 2 games Scotland has 3 points and has got 2 away fixtures out of the way. It was still a mistake to start with a match against Macedonia in searing late summer heat, but what's done is done. The main thing is that we are firmly in contention in a group that will see plenty of ups and downs along the way.

The Macedonia result also has to be put into perspective. Results for the first round of qualifying games have been surprising all across Europe - yesterday, for example, Denmark beat Portugal, Luxembourg (!) beat Switzerland, and Germany had to come back 3 times against Finland to earn a point.

Meanwhile, Macedonia lost to Holland, which leaves runners-up spot in Group 9 well and truly up for grabs. And that was always the target anyhow.

So, let's not panic. Some very silly things have been said about George Burley over the past few days, and there is probably some truth in the theory that his face just does not fit amongst the "Largs mafia" who control the Scottish game. Having spent almost his entire career in England (apart from a very brief, but successful, time at Hearts, of course), he doesn't seem to fit easily into the cosy West coast club, where friendship counts for more than ability.

It all changed this morning, with even Keith Jackson, a man who thinks Scottish football begins and ends with Rangers, singing his praises in the Daily Record. He does seem to have adopted a prose style uncannily similar to Chick Young, however.

Or take Lee McCulloch's retirement from international football. On Monday, BBC Scotland were happy to insinuate that he had problems with Burley, forcing the manager to defend himself in the press when he should have been concentrating on the Iceland game. By Thursday, they published a story that looks very much like a retraction, and carrying quotes from Craig Brown that criticised McCulloch instead.

The end of McCulloch's international career is, in fact, not that interesting a story. Scotland always need options, but there are plenty of alternatives to him. Far more important is that Burley is trying to introduce a more positive, attacking philosophy - something that McLeish promised, but didn't carry through. The previous backs-to-the-wall approach was effective, but ultimately a failure, and Burley deserves credit for not taking the easy option.

Let's hope that, as with Fabio Capello, a positive result has given the manager some more leeway in the media. Because there is no doubt that qualification from this group will not be easy, and Burley will need all the support he can get.

Now it's Burley's turn to fulfil the promise

According to the BBC and everyone else, the Scottish Football Association will announce tomorrow morning that George Burley is the new manager. They've taken their time over the appointment, and they've made a good decision.

Burley electrified Scottish football in 2005 when he put took charge at Hearts, put together a new team very quickly, and took the club on an unbeaten run to the top of the SPL, before being sacked by Vladimir Romanov for his impudence.

But he's got more than that to his bow... he's been doing a decent job with limited resources at Southampton, and previously took Ipswich into Europe. Of course, he also got Ipswich relegated too, but he's hardly the first coach to suffer from 2nd Season Syndrome at a club that's been recently promoted.

He's a tracksuit manager, keen to get involved in training sessions, and is used to working with relatively unheralded players and getting them to perform. His man-management and motivational skills will be needed if Scotland are going to build on their progress over the past few years. The squad is improving all the time, but still needs careful attention.

The timing's as good as it gets for an international coach, though... he'll have the home nation championship to practise in before the World Cup qualifying starts in the autumn.

The only other serious option was Mark McGhee, but given what's happened at Motherwell this season it's no shame for him to stay where he is and put his energies into that job.

Good luck to Burley and Scotland. He's the right choice.