THE Scotland players have let down themselves and Craig Levein by making such an awful start to the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, Kenny Miller said last night.
Manager Levein is under immense pressure and may need an unlikely win in Belgium tomorrow night to save himself from the sack. The Scottish Football Association (SFA) refused to make any comment on the manager's position yesterday but it is expected that chief executive Stewart Regan will make a statement later in the week.
With the chance of qualifying for the finals in Brazil all but gone – Scotland have two points from a possible nine before playing Belgium or Croatia, the two best teams in Group A – the issue to be resolved is whether Levein will be replaced before the campaign resumes in March, at home to Wales.
Levein is under contract until 2014 and senior SFA figures such as Regan and president Campbell Ogilvie have no wish to remove him, though thousands of supporters want change.
Gordon Strachan and Alex McLeish are among the favourites, and the SFA will be mindful of the potential for falling attendances and gate receipts if they allow him to see out a failing campaign.
There is no doubt that the manager has the backing of his players, at least.
"We're 100% behind him," said Miller. "The buck stops with him but we fully support him. We love working with him, we like the set-up, but we can only justify that by getting results. In these three games we've let ourselves down and we've let the manager down.
"We have six games and we can still win them, but we'll have to play an awful lot better than we have been doing. Going to Belgium is a tough game and we have to win. There's no point dressing it up any more – we have to win."
"I believe we have made progress coming into this campaign but in the last few games we have not shown it. We're not playing great. But we totally believe he's the right man for the job. We're 100% behind him. We believe in what he's trying to do."
Cardiff City midfielder Don Cowie has been called up to replace Scott Brown – the Celtic captain having flown home due to his ongoing hip problem – while James Forrest yesterday withdrew from the squad because of a groin injury. Andy Webster has a back problem but will travel to Belgium.
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