DAVID MOYES would be open to becoming the next Scotland manager if such a deal could be done in the event of Gordon Strachan quitting.
We understand the current Sunderland manager is unhappy at Sunderland, the club he took over at the start of this season, and the national team job is something he would fancy taking on at this stage of his career.
Glaswegian Moyes has a four-year deal with Sunderland and is well paid by the Premier League club which, of course, is a not unimportant factor to contend with.
However, after his experiences at Manchester United and Real Sociedad, the 53-year-old could do without another failure on his CV, even if he could hardly be faulted for what has been happening on Wearside long before he replaced Sam Allardyce in the summer.
His Sunderland team is, at best, good enough to be mid-table challengers in the Championship, which is exactly where they are heading after years of pulling off incredible escapes from relegation in the final games of the season.. They have won just once in eleven league games and sit bottom on five points.
It is understood that Moyes has been told only limited funds will be made available to him in January when the reality is he needs to add at least four quality Premier League players to his squad if the club is to stand any chance of staying up.
Sunderland, through no real fault of Moyes, are going down. The owner, American billionaire Ellis Short, is willing to sell the club which only adds to uncertainty.
Only last month Moyes admitted; "It's something I'd never say never to in the future, never say never to managing in Scotland. It's always something which I would definitely keep open.”
If Strachan, as expected, does walk and it proves too difficult to land Moyes, who is second favourite with the bookmakers behind Alex McLeish, the SFA will still need to spend money to lure any quality candidate to Hampden.
Derek McInnes, Aberdeen's talented young manager, is an option, while Northern Ireland's miracle worker Michael O'Neill is the favourite of many supporters but would probably say no, and it would cost £350,000 to buy out his contract.
Malky Mackay is available but would be a controversial choice, and while Lars Lagerback has performed wonders with Iceland and has an encyclopedic knowledge of international football, at 68 he is arguably too old for the job.
Whatever happens, it it difficult to see Strachan staying on despite the fact he does retain the faith and support of most of his players. He is a popular manager and many would like him to at least see out this World Cup campaign.
Strachan’s critics will point to his record from the 20 competitive games with Scotland which shows just eight wins; Croatia twice, Macedonia, Georgia, Ireland, Gibraltar twice and Malta. The wins over Croatia and Macedonia were at the start of his tenure when there was little chance of reaching the European Championships of last summer.
Factor in draws to Ireland and Lithuania at home, plus the last defeat in Slovakia and that horror show last year in Georgia, and then we have the 3-0 defeat at Wembley which leaves Scotland fifth in a group in which they were seeded third.
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