Go For Gord's Sake Go

Last updated : 17 November 2016 By Alex Horsburgh

Gordon Strachan must now do the decent thing and step down as Scotland manager after the nation's 3-0 defeat at Wembley. With 3 wins in his last 10 games, and two of those against no hopers Gibraltar and Malta, the party is over for a great player, an entertaining pundit and a decent guy but not the man to take us forward in this World Cup qualifying campaign.

"
Who will replace him?", "Who will want the job?" and "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear" are the clichés still circulating on social media as unbelievably a section of the Scottish public continue to back a manager who is clearly out of ideas and tinkering with a squad of limited talent but who can very occasionally rise to the occasion, two good performances and narrow defeats v Germany in the qualification group for the Euros, and a defeat of a good Rep of Ireland side in the same competition showed that but consistency of play by our team and consistency of selection by our manager is for the most part lacking.


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(c)Tim Goode PA Wire/PA Images

The manager himself as admitted to "a crisis of confidence" on occasion during his first campaign and tinkered  again against the Irish away (1-1) and Poland at home (2-2 with a sickening last gasp equaliser for the visitors born out of an inability to see the game out). Had we won in Dublin we would have been in a Euro 2016 Play Off with a chance to go to the finals instead of Martin O'Neill's men but the Scotland manager played it too cautious and not for the first time. Georgia away was a key game in the Euros and we bottled it losing 1-0 with the SFA's travel plans also called into question as they seemed to prefer the economy long way round to eastern Europe leaving players stranded at an airport for several hours.

It's been dreadful viewing on the road to Russia (no it has, because I don't buy into the opinion that we have been ok for "periods" of games, it is a results based business). We hammered Malta 5-1 but we must remember we were struggling at 2-1 before a dubious penalty gave us breathing space and 3-1, after that the home side gave up and more or less allowed us to win at a canter, the scoreline was impressive but it should have been without the need for a defining spot kick incident.

Lithuania saw us slow and plodding and we were lucky to get a 1-1 (despite what the manager said) while 3-0 defeats in Slovakia and England showed we are going backwards and are clearly fielding players that are past their sell by date with Scotland.

The awful pink away kit, breeze block defenders and forwards who freeze in front of goal allied to a manager with a paranoid attitude to the press makes this Scotland group one of the most memorable on record for all the wrong reasons.

Many ex-players who are now pundits and current players continue to back Gordon Strachan but they all get free passes to matches and are not paying over priced entrance fees to see one of the worst Scotland sides in 50 years. The product is not worth the money and the manager's defensiveness and general chirpy attitude in press conferences is frankly played out.

No, it's not working and it will only get worse as we limp on with lame excuses from players and management currently employed with getting us to Russia about Lady Luck not being a Scotland fan and if only this had happened and that had worked!

Anyone who takes the Scotland job after the former Leeds Utd, Man U and Aberdeen player Strachan will find it tough with a mediocre squad and a rudderless SFA who seem to see Scotland games at Hampden especially like the circus being in town instead of qualification for tournaments being essential to the nation's well being, and not just in a sporting sense.

However, the current era is over and Gordon Strachan must step down but if he does not resign,  safe in the delusion he is only one game from getting the success he thinks he is due, before our next qualifier he must be removed from the post and the SFA must show they regard Scotland games as more than just a cash cow that provides much needed funding for the guardians of the Scottish game's governing coffers (and self appointed pay rises in one or two cases?).

We must regroup and go again with the next man in the hot seat hopefully galvanised by the fact that anyone who can take us to Russia now via a Play Off (still the slightest of chances) will be hailed as a national hero!

Gordon Strachan's legacy can still be that of a great player who gave an honest shift as national head coach but if he doesn't go soon he may be remembered simply as a wee man punching well above his weight.

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