Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee claims he has no idea if Gordon Strachan is considering his future as manager of the national side after poor results against Lithuania and Slovakia seriously damaged the country’s hopes of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
The draw against the Lithuanians at Hampden on Saturday night and the heavy defeat in Slovakia on Tuesday evening has led to intense scrutiny around Strachan’s position, with many questioning whether he still has the hunger for the role as he approaches his fourth anniversary as Scotland boss.
But McGhee, who sat next to Strachan on the flight home from Slovakia, says that the pair haven’t discussed his state of mind in regards to continuing in the job, and that even he had to check in with the Scottish Football Association’s Head of Communications yesterday morning to see if there had been any developments.
“I have no idea,” McGhee said. “I have no indication. He gave me no sign. The habit has not been when we’re on the plane that we start talking about the next game, we discuss what happened with England or what we’re going to do next. It was all about the moment.
“We spoke about the ins and outs of the Slovakia game but at no point did we discuss anything other than that. I left him at Glasgow airport and his wife Lesley picked him up and they drove down south because they were going to a funeral yesterday. That’s the last I spoke to him.
“I spoke to Darryl Broadfoot this morning and there’s no indications of meetings (at the SFA) so, as far as I’m concerned, I’m getting on with it.”
McGhee acknowledges that the performances and results over the past week have been some way short of acceptable, and he understands that many supporters will have lost faith with the management team he is a part of as a consequence. He stressed though that Strachan’s sole motivation for doing the job is to try to get those same fans to a major tournament.
“I can’t argue with the results,” he said. “We lost 3-0. Therefore the Scotland fans have to say what they will say or take whatever view they take. I can’t do anything about that – other, than when we get back together the next time, work hard to get the right formula and get the right result. I do know that we all try our best, even if at times it does not appear like that.
“But I know that Gordon Strachan does it for the fans. That’s what his motivation is."
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