GORDON Strachan hailed the meaningless 6-0 final day victory against Gibraltar as one of the most memorable nights of his career but again refused to confirm or deny whether it was also his last as Scotland manager. While there is still no hard and fast decision on whether the 58-year-old will extend his contract with the SFA to lead Scotland into the 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign, the national team boss lavished praise on the performance from his side in Faro and said he was moved by the warm ovation he received from a 10,000-plus travelling support. Steven Fletcher scored his second hat-trick against the Gibraltarians during this campaign to become the first Scotland player to achieve multiple hat-tricks in Scotland colours since Denis Law, with the other goals coming from Chris Martin, Shaun Maloney and substitute Steven Naismith. Results elsewhere on the night mean that Germany and Poland qualify for France next summer, with the Republic of Ireland going into a play-off.
"There are 12,000 people out there, giving us a standing ovation, after you fail to qualify, and I think that is unheard of," said Strachan, whose contract is now officially up for renewal. "That was a special occasion for myself, the players and the staff. I don't think any other nation in the world could produce a support like that having failed to qualify.
"There were two horrendous pieces of luck, two offside decisions, and six or seven passes in Georgia which decided our fate," he added. "This is a fantastic job and people who know me well know how proud I am to be the Scotland manager. It has been a special campaign. There are great people to work with, the players and staff. I am really a bit down the other day about not qualifying but it just shows you we have a spirit in this group that will put us in stead.
"We will sit down and all look at it and see where we are going," he added. "Is everybody happy? The family happy? Am I happy? But it is a fantastic job, and throughout my job I have had some fantastic nights and you wouldn't have thought that one of my most memorable nights would have been away to Gibraltar.
"Okay Gibraltar aren't the strongest side in the world but we have seen it many times, weaker teams putting in a performance and the stronger side stumbling through it. Personally I thought, from the first moment to the last, the professionalism they showed and respect they gave to Gibraltar was phenomenal. "
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