Stephen McManus was a player under Gordon Strachan at Celtic when his then manager called time on his spell in the Parkhead dugout. He was also there at Middlesbrough when he held his hands up and decided he could take the club no further. If his former boss thought he had reached the end of the road as Scotland manager, McManus reckons he would be the first one to admit it.
“If I remember right, Gordon had been at Celtic for three years and, when I spoke to him, he probably felt the last year was when he was ready to go," said McManus. "Four years in the Old Firm is a long time. It is not the same intensity when you are the national manager because you are not there every day. But for me, Gordon is one of the best coaches or managers I have ever worked with. At Middlesbrough, he certainly wasn’t under pressure from the owner at that time. So that was a shock. Gordon will know when the time is right, but I just hope he stays on.”
While the SFA board will also have their view, McManus says the answer to Scotland’s woes doesn’t lie in simply sacking the manager, and has called upon the entire country to give both Strachan and his players positive backing as they gear up for the trip to Wembley next month.
“I don’t think the answer is to sack someone or for someone to walk away when things aren’t going great,” he said. “That’s just my opinion. The players respect Gordon. You can see that. At international level, you can usually see how players feel about a manager when you look at them pulling out of the squad. No-one does that. Everyone wants to go every single time.
“The next big game is going to be key," he added. "We are only three points behind England who are top of the group. Of course it is going to be a difficult place to go and win. But there is also not a better place to win if you are Scottish. That would get us right back into contention in the group."
Scott McDonald, McManus' team-mate at Celtic, Middlesbrough and Motherwell, feels it would be a travesty if his old gaffer walked away from the national team. "You need a thick skin to survive in football and I think we all know that Gordon has got that in abundance," said McDonald. "He won't be ruffled by what anyone else thinks. We have seen that over the years. He will continue to do what he believes in terms of team selection and team tactics and the amount of time he has got it right over his career outweighs how many times he has got it wrong. You never know what he is thinking but in terms of Gordon leaving I think it would be a travesty for everyone involved and it just wouldn't be right. A lot may depend on how the next result goes and how Gordon feels within himself. But who is going to come in and do a better job at the moment? I can't see that."
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