Levein: 'I want to stay, work hard and improve things'

Wednesday 17 October 2012

BEaten, but not bereft, Craig Levein emerged from the visitors' dressing room in the King Baudouin Stadium last night and insisted he will not walk away from his job, despite this defeat in Belgium leaving Scotland bottom of their World Cup qualification section.

It was a painful evening for Craig Levein in Brussels

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With nothing less than a win good enough to revive lingering hopes of reaching Brazil in 2014 and ease the pressure on the manager after home draws with Serbia and Macedonia last month and Friday's loss in Wales, goals from Christian Benteke and Vincent Kompany consigned the Scots to a 2-0 defeat.

But, when asked if he would consider his position, Levein insisted: "Not at all. I'm very proud to be the Scotland national team manager and I want to continue to do so. I've been in football for long enough to understand when the players are trying at their maximum and they're doing their best for each other and for the team and they did that tonight and on Friday night."They didn't have any energy left at the end of the match and they did everything possible to get a result for Scotland tonight. I've seen again tonight a group of players who are determined and hungry and desperate to do well for Scotland. As long as that is the case, I'm quite happy to be working with these players."The decision could be taken out of Levein's hands, though, should the Scottish Football Association hierarchy – led by chief executive Stewart Regan and Campbell Ogilvie, the president – feel moved to act. He added: "All I can tell you is that I want to remain as the manager – that's what I want to do. Other than that, you will have to ask other people the questions you are asking me. As far as I am aware, I'm still doing my job so you would have to ask other people the questions. It's impossible for me to answer. I'm interested in staying and working hard to improve things."Any improvements, though, will not be on display at the World Cup finals, though. "It looks very difficult," Levein acknowledged, stopping short of conceding the campaign was over. "We are sitting with two points out of 12."Instead, he returned to his familiar themes of long-term goals and progress, citing the Belgians as an example of what can be achieved by a small nation. "We are looking at a situation where we have to improve as a nation, as a country, in our production of players," he said. "Belgium are a perfect example. If you put a system in place and stick with it, then you have an opportunity to produce the quality of players that we were playing against tonight. That's something that I feel is really important."I'll do the absolute best that I can with the players we've got. They're doing their best for me, they're doing their best for the country. And, as far as I'm concerned, 100%, I want to work with them."The feeling, it would appear, is mutual. Allan McGregor, Scotland's best player on the night, said: "I can speak for all of the boys, we are all behind him 100 %. It is going to be the same players so I don't know what is going to change and how dramatically if someone else comes in."

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Levein: 'I want to stay, work hard and improve things'

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