Stephen McManus is absolutely clear about why Scotland appear to be heading in the right direction in Group D in the Euro 2016 qualifiers. The former Celtic and Scotland defender believes Gordon Strachan is one of the best managers in British football.

McManus was a member of the last Scotland team to go and play in the Boris Paichadze Stadium against Georgia, as Strachan’s team will do in three days’ time. The Motherwell defender believes the Scotland manager will know precisely what he and his players are about.

“He is the best manager/coach I have ever worked for,” says McManus of Strachan. “First of all, Gordon trusts his players. He tells you he trusts you. If you are prepared to work hard under Gordon, you will earn his trust, and for any footballer that is a terrific feeling – to know that your manager trusts you.

“Secondly, he is a very hands-on coach. At some clubs the manager does very little on the training ground, but Gordon wants to oversee everything with his players. And there is a purpose to everything he does. Nothing is over-complicated: he is a very clear football thinker and talker. Even as a pundit on TV, when Gordon spoke, you tended to listen, because you knew he knew exactly what he was talking about. To the players, he is totally convincing.

“Ultimately, though, it is all about results. If you are getting results, as Gordon has been with Scotland, then the players buy in to your way of thinking. It is the same right across football – results are everything. You just want to go out and play for Gordon, because of the way he talks to you, and because of the way you can earn his trust. I’ve seen it again and again with him.”

The memories of a painful night on October 17, 2007 in Tbilisi still linger in the minds of diehard Scotland fans. Alex McLeish’s team had been making exhilarating progress in their qualifiers for 2008 – beating Georgia, Lithuania, France and Ukraine – and a clear momentum seemed with them. Brazenly, McLeish and his players went to Georgia that late autumn believing a win was within their grasp, only to come unstuck in a 2-0 defeat.

“We played really poorly on the night,” admits McManus. “It just didn’t go for us. Our campaign had been going so well up until then, with two wins against France, and home wins against Georgia and others. So we went there with the view, ‘we can go and win this’.

“Usually an away game at international level with Scotland is all about our shape and discipline, but our build-up to that game was different. We felt we had momentum in the group, and we definitely believed we could win.”

In goal that night for Georgia was Giorgi Makaridze, a 17-year-old debutant, whose career since has scarcely worked out. He currently plays for Feirense in the Portuguese second division. McLeish ordered a buoyant-feeling Scotland to shell the callow Makaridze at any opportunity.

“I remember Alex McLeish telling us to test him out, to really have a go at him,” says McManus. “Well, as it turned out, he hardly had a save to make the whole night. We felt bitterly disappointed. It was typical Scotland – a horrible experience. We didn’t perform.”

It is uncanny, in fact, how that campaign for the 2008 qualifiers and these 2016 qualifiers feel the same. There is hope once again in Scottish hearts that the finals next summer can be reached. McManus also believes that, on top of the inspiring work of Strachan, there is a Scotland squad at present that should feel no fear or inferiority whatsoever. “This squad has done tremendously well. They have given the country a real boost with their performances. If you are asking me, can Scotland qualify for the Euro finals next summer, then yes, absolutely they can. There is no doubt about it.

“When I played in these games for Scotland I never found it much of a step up at all. I was at Celtic, I’d played in Europe against the likes of Barcelona and AC Milan, I’d been in the last 16 of the Champions League. And I think it is the same for a lot of the guys in this current squad. None of it will faze guys who have played in the Champions League, are playing in the English Premier League, or the Championship in England or elsewhere. They can handle it. They have done tremendously well in this campaign so far.”

McManus also believes that, for one Scottish player in particular, events of recent days are highly significant.

“I think Shaun Maloney moving back from Chicago to Hull City is massive for us. He is one of our best players, and I think being in the MLS, with all the travelling involved, might have been on his mind a wee bit. I think, purely from a Scotland perspective, Shaun can feel more comfortable being back in England.

“The players know these finals can be reached, but nothing is a given in this squad. Look at a guy like Charlie Adam, a really talented player, who can’t get in the squad at the moment. So I think Shaun being back home and playing in Britain is a major plus for Gordon Strachan and the team.”

But it will all come down to results, not form, as the memory of 2007 bitterly reminds us. Back then Scotland proved, hardly for a first time, that all the momentum in the world counts for nothing if the job can’t be completed. Late defeats against Georgia and Italy did for McLeish’s team.

“Results are everything, obviously, but I do believe Gordon Strachan has generated a great belief among his players,” says McManus. “Results tell a player and a team where it is all going. You saw that during the Craig Levein era, when the results didn’t come, and it all turned a bit sour. It doesn’t seem like that right now under Gordon. I think Scotland should have a real confidence about this current team.”