A win tomorrow is the only thing that can save the Scotland manager

Chief football writer

Monday 15 October 2012

THE beleaguered few men at the head of the Scottish Football Association needn't fill their heads with long-term strategies and performance plans this morning.

If Craig Levein is sacked by the SFA after nearly three years in the job he cannot claim to have not been given a chance â€¦

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Michael Grant

It's about crossing their fingers and hoping for the best now. Desperate times, desperate measures.

In the next 48 hours they will probably have to reach a decision they desperately don't want to make. There is little or no will to dismiss Craig Levein within the hierarchy at Hampden, within which he yields more influence than most of his predecessors, but if Scotland lose in Belgium keeping him simply isn't going to be acceptable to the supporters.

For the record: if Scotland somehow win in Brussels, Levein will have earned more time. That would be such a stunning result that all of his claims of progress and improvement – which sound more inflated and baseless after each poor result – would suddenly carry substance. It would be worth sticking with him if he pulls off a minor miracle tomorrow because it would be a belated vindication of his faith in a team which seems to convince him and no-one else. There would, at last, be something for all of us to buy into.The best of luck in Brussels, then, but there is nothing malicious towards Levein or unpatriotic towards the team in stating that everything points to this being the end of the road. Beating Belgium away is just the sort of startling result which has been beyond Scotland for years (the delicious robbery of France in the Parc des Princes was more than five years ago). Levein's Scotland have rarely looked capable of hurting any team higher in the world rankings. Belgium look a class act and the bookmakers have it priced at 4/11 for a home win, and 10/1 Scotland.Defeat, the most likely outcome, would mean the SFA would have to start headhunting. All the statistics to damn his record have been trotted out over the weekend but it's also worth looking at how long he's been in the job. He's been Scotland manager for longer than Walter Smith, Alex McLeish or George Burley were. Burley survived for 22 months and Berti Vogts 32, exactly the same as Levein. If he's sacked after nearly three years in the job he cannot claim to have not been given a chance. After tomorrow night the World Cup campaign will be only one game short of the halfway stage (and Scotland could still be on just two points). There was omerta from the SFA yesterday. Not a peep from chief executive Stewart Regan or president Campbell Ogilvie. Something will be said later in the week. There has been some agitation about the SFA's silence over the weekend but, in truth, it didn't matter much. Any vote of confidence or ultimatum would quickly be overtaken by events. It's all about Brussels now. To be stuck on two or three points after four qualifiers, and not be seen to be doing something about it, would look timid and unjustifiable.The SFA lacks presence, someone who could hold court to give a convincing case for Levein's defence. Regan is compromised due to his handling of Rangers. A large number of clubs reportedly are prepared to move for a vote of no confidence in him and call for him to be replaced. Ogilvie – by his own admission unable to do his job properly for months after being implicated in the Ibrox employee benefit trust investigations – isn't in a position to speak publicly about anything without his words being drowned by criticism and innuendo. The two vice-presidents, Rod Petrie and Alan McRae, would rather run a mile than go in front of the media to talk about, well, anything. None of this is in Levein's favour.There were more than 20,000 empty seats across the opening Hampden double-header and the three awful results so far will turn away fans in their droves. That costs the SFA money. There is a friendly in Luxembourg in next month and one against Estonia in Aberdeen in February before the World Cup campaign resumes against the Welsh at Hampden in March. To be brutal, if Scotland lose again this will become a window in which the SFA could consider its options, conduct interviews, appoint a manager and give him some time to bed in before significant games start again. Any decision on Levein will be made by the SFA board, namely Regan, Ogilvie, McRae, Petrie, SPL president Ralph Topping, Tom Johnston of the Scottish Junior FA and independent non-executive director Barrie Jackson. Levein is popular among that lot and his contribution to the SFA's long-term planning has been thoughtful and perceptive, but those initiatives can carry on regardless. In the meantime, Scotland can't just limp along with a failing team.Even if the World Cup already looks a lost cause, the Scotland job is still attractive. It is a better team with Steven Fletcher available, there genuinely is plenty of experience and potential, and whoever is in charge for the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign will fancy his chances of capitalising on that tournament's expansion from 16 to 24 finalists. There will be plenty of managers seduced by the idea of being the man who takes Scotland back to a tournament. But for Levein this looks like being an unforgiving week.

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A win tomorrow is the only thing that can save the Scotland manager

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