Gordon Smith: Dear Gordon Strachan...

[ian1964 10,720]

...your results haven't been good enough and it's time to go.

 

I HAVE been very supportive of the job you have done with the national team.

 

And on Thursday night you literally had my backing – I was at Hampden cheering Scotland on against Poland.

 

It was an enjoyable experience, too.

 

I felt you picked the right team and that, before the loss of a bad late goal, we had produced a pleasing performance.

 

But with the dust now settled, we must analyse what has taken place.

 

The bottom line is that a squad, acknowledged as talented a bunch of players as we have had for some time, has failed.

 

Failed in a new, expanded set-up that affords more countries every chance to qualify for the Euro Finals.

 

Two from each group automatically qualifying, with a third getting the safety net of a play-off, aren’t bad odds. Not at all.

 

Yet we have finished fourth.

 

And for all the misfortune, that’s a fact which can’t be avoided or ignored.

 

Let’s put it into context.

 

Berti Vogts, George Burley and Craig Levein – three managers who between them received tremendous criticism – all finished higher in their respective campaigns than you have.

 

Pretty much every time a club sacks its manager, the phrase: ‘Football is a results-driven business’, is trotted out as justification for the change.

 

Frankly, your results as Scotland manager have not been good enough. So it’s time to move over and give someone else a chance.

 

The SFA have made it clear they want you to stay on and lead our bid to reach the World Cup Finals in 2018.

 

That means you are the man who will decide your own future.

 

I have heard people querying whether you will walk away once tonight’s Gibraltar game is out of the way.

 

For me, that misrepresents your situation. As I understand it, technically your contract expires on the return from Faro.

 

You have been employed to do a job and will have completed the task.

 

But, equally, you have failed in steering us to next summer’s Euro Finals

 

A new deal may be yours for the signing, and the onus is on SFA Chief Executive Stewart Regan to persuade you that putting pen to paper is something you want to be doing.

 

You should exercise your right to say: ‘No, I have done my bit. Now it is time to let someone else have a go at it’.

 

If you were to do so, I don’t think anyone could complain.

 

There is no suggestion you haven’t given your all in your bid to give this group of players the experience you enjoyed of wearing the Dark Blue jersey in a tournament Final.

 

You have always taken pride in your achievements and you have fostered a confident and positive mood in the group.

 

That won’t suddenly disappear if you decide to move on.

 

Players like Darren Fletcher, James Morrison and Scott Brown will make sure of it.

 

I am also convinced you would enjoy what lies ahead on a personal level if you did call it a day.

 

You have spoken often of your grandchildren and how it would be no problem to fill your days.

 

Your television work would also ensure you continued to have a connection with the game.

 

I believe it would be the right thing to do in the wake of your failure to get to France.

 

If, however, you decide to stay on, I will support both you and your decision moving forward.

 

http://www.sundaypost.com/gordon-smith-dear-gordon-strachan-your-results-haven-t-been-good-enough-and-it-s-time-to-go-1.904365

[ranger_syntax 4,255]

Who could replace Gordon Strachan and do better?

[der Berliner 3,716]

The CFA will find someone suitable, no doubt.

[Crimson Dynamo 128]

We got a terrible group end of...

[Bearman 9]

N.I. would have qualified from our group and they have players supposedly inferior to Scotland...it's down to the manager and how he sees the stregnths as opposed the weaknesses in his side and the best way to utilise that.

 

Tough group my arse...we lost to Georgia ffs.

[Gribz 826]

If you look at the teams 4th in each group none of them get a tally of Scotlands points. It was down to one game - away to Georgia that cost us plus Ireland taking a freak 4 pts off Germany.

 

He should 100% stay in the job but bring in a better assistant.

 

For the first campaign in 20 years the manager should stay on.

[Bearman 9]

Nope!

 

Strachan must go!

 

Whoever is is charge of who gets the Scotland managers post must go too.

 

Let's get a real manager in who will make a difference.

 

Lets get Walter back...he got sidetracked before but that won't happen again

[Oleg_Mcnoleg 50]

Smith's suggestion that the squad's in no better shape than it was under Levein or Burley is just idiotic. The Georgia performance was Levein-level of shite but, that aside, we've not looked too bad. I'd back a Scotland team to beat Northern Ireland quite comfortably. They've done brilliantly to qualify but would have finished fifth in Scotland's group.

None of that is to suggest Strachan's a genius. He's made some daft decisions but he's a proven, competent manager and a step up from anyone else who's going to take the job.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Oleg_Mcnoleg

[Gribz 826]

Overall there has been improvement. If it was club football that would be assessed and taking into consideration. Hands down he has made improvements therefore should continue. McLeish, Souness, Dalglish....anyone think they would do any better? Only Alex Ferguson would get another 10-20% out these players but he isn't going to take it as he is retired.

[BrahimHemdani 1]

Northern Ireland led by the redoubtable Steven Davis have qualified as group winners, apparently the first time 5th seeds have ever won a group.

 

http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/northern-ireland-win-group-f-to-cap-impressive-euro-2016-qualification-campaign-a3087586.html

 

We were 4th seeds in a harder but by no means impossible group and we finished 4th; so I suppose it's arguable that we did no better or worse than expected.

 

We drew twice with Poland who qualified in second place and we beat and drew with RoI who are in the play-offs, so without a doubt it was the loss in Georgia that killed us. All the three above us won in Georgia and had we done the same we would have been in the play-offs on our points tally v RoI. Furthermore Scotland are currently ranked above Poland and RoI so I think it is fair to view finishing below them as a failure.

 

Football managers who fail, normally are not invited to sign new contracts and the fact that Strachan is in that position demonstrates the paucity of other candidates as much as anything else.

 

That said, Strachan is a proud man and he may also view the World Cup campaign as an almost impossible task. He can take something from this campaign but I doubt he would want to end his managerial career with two failures. I don't think he needs the money and he has proved to be a knowledgeable and popular TV pundit. I suspect he may see that as the way to go. He has resigned from his last three posts, I think this will be the fourth.