Tributes to the players' man

1...... Apr 1 1987 Scotland 0, England 0.......May 23 1987 Scotland

0, Brazil 2........May 26 1987 Scotland 2, Hungary 0.......Sep 9 1987

Scotland 2, Belgium 0.......Oct 14 1987 Bulgaria 0, Scotland 1......Nov 11 1987

Luxembourg 0, Scotland 0....Dec 2 1987 S Arabia 2, Scotland 2......Feb 17

1988 Malta 1, Scotland 1.........Mar 22 1988 Spain 0, Scotland

0.........Apr 27 1988 Scotland 0, Colombia 0......May 17 1988

England 1, Scotland 0.......May 21 1988 Norway 1, Scotland 2........Sep 14 1988

Scotland 1, Yugoslavia 1....Oct 19 1988 Italy 2, Scotland 0 ........Dec 22 1988

Cyprus 2, Scotland 3........Feb 8 1989 Scotland 2, France

0........Mar 8 1989 Scotland 2, Cyprus 1........Apr 26 1989

Scotland 0, England 2.......May 27 1989 Scotland 2, Chile 0.........May 30 1989

Y'slavia 3, Scotland 1......Sep 6 1989 France 3, Scotland 0........Oct 11 1989

Scotland 1, Norway 1........Nov 15 1989 Scotland 1, Argentina

0.....Mar 28 1990 Scotland 0, E Germany 1.....Apr 25 1990 Scotland 1,

Egypt 3.........May 16 1990 Scotland 1, Poland 1........May 19 1990

Malta 1, Scotland 2.........May 28 1990 C' Rica 1, Scotland 0.......June11 1990

Sweden 1, Scotland 2........June16 1990 Scotland 0, Brazil 1........June20 1990

Scotland 2, Romania 1.......Sep 12 1990 Scotland 2, Switz'lnd

1.....Oct 17 1990 Bulgaria 1, Scotland 1......Nov 14 1990 Scotland 0,

Russia 1........Feb 6 1991 Scotland 1, Bulgaria 1......Mar 27 1991

San Marino 0, Scotland 2....May 1 1991 Switz'lnd 2, Scotland 2.....Sep 11 1991

Romania 1, Scotland 0.......Oct 16 1991 Scotland 4, S Marino 0......Nov 13 1991

Scotland 1, N Ireland 0.....Feb19 1992 Scotland 1, Finland

1.......Mar 25 1992 USA 0, Scotland 1...........May 17 1992 Canada 1,

Scotland 3........May 21 1992 Norway 0, Scotland 0........June 3 1992

Scotland 0, Holland 1.......June12 1992 Scotland 0, Germany 2.......June16 1992

Scotland 3, CIS 0...........June19 1992 Switzerland 3, Scotland 1...Sep 9

1992 Scotland 0, Portugal 0......Oct 14 1992 Scotland 0, Italy

0.........Nov 18 1992 Scotland 3, Malta 0.........Feb 17 1992

Scotland 0, Germany 1.......Mar 24 1993 Portugal 5, Scotland 0......Apr 28 1993

Estonia 0, Scotland 3.......May 19 1993 Scotland 3, Estonia 1.......June 2 1993

Scotland 1, Switzerland 1...Sep 8 1993

NO sooner had the final

whistle sounded on the seven-year reign of Andy Roxburgh as Scotland's

soccer supremo than disappointment was voiced surrounding his decision

to quit the international stage.

Rumours of disharmony between the manager and several of his more

experienced internationalists, fuelled somewhat by the rather public

bust-up with captain Richard Gough, were sharply denied last night by

many of his players.

Instead, they sprang to the defence of Roxburgh, urging supporters to

recognise his contribution to leading this nation to the World Cup

finals in Italy, and the European Championships.

Leading the praise was Celtic captain Paul McStay, who admitted to

being deeply saddened by Andy's resignation. ''Without doubt, he has

been an enormous help to me throughout my development in senior

football.''

Similar views were expressed by Tranmere Rovers winger Pat Nevin. He

stressed that Roxburgh's list of achievements compared with the best of

them. ''Thankfully, he still has an important role to play in Scottish

football as its national coach, otherwise it would have been an even

greater loss,'' the former Clyde and Everton player explained.

''He was always aware that there would be a witch-hunt if he failed to

qualify for next year's World Cup finals in America. In many ways, it is

sad that his past achievements have not received proper recognition.

''One of his many qualities as far as I was concerned was that Andy

was always considerate of players' feelings and positions, he would take

the trouble to phone you and keep you informed of what was happening,''

added Pat.

Perhaps someone better qualified to talk about the Roxburgh regime is

ex-Celt Murdo MacLeod, who won 17 caps under him.

Invited to assist the Scotland manager during last week's World Cup

match against Switzerland, ultimately Roxburgh's last stand, MacLeod

revealed that he had the utmost respect of the players.

''All the players got on well with him and he was certainly well

respected. Andy was always fair and gave everyone a chance.

''He also demonstrated tremendous loyalty towards his players, which

is important,'' he continued.

Now ensconced as manager of Dumbarton, MacLeod will retain his

Scottish involvement next month, assisting Craig Brown in the World Cup

qualifier against Italy.

''It is marvellous experience for me to be involved, and I will always

be grateful to Andy for giving me an early chance,'' he said.

Former Liverpool star Alan Hansen, now a television commentator, also

was supportive of Roxburgh's role at the helm. Last night he said:

''Andy made his decision to resign and not be pushed out of the job.

''It is only 15 months ago that Scotland had their best spell, when

they qualified for the finals of the European Championships, and indeed,

performed admirably throughout their matches. This should not be

forgotten.''

Scottish legend Denis Law admitted that he was surprised by the

manager's decision to bow out. ''Andy has done a good job, and it also

has to be remembered that Scotland

were probably in one of the hardest qualifying groups in the

competition.

''We are a small nation, and it is perhaps wrong and naive that we

automatically expect to reach the finals every time. ''