GORDON STRACHAN is to stay on as Scotland manager despite the national team’s poor start to their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Reports had suggested the 59-year-old was considering his future following Tuesday night’s 3-0 defeat in Slovakia but Herald Sport understands that both he and his paymasters are determined he should carry on in an attempt to redeem the qualifying situation.
So much confidence does Strachan retain within the association that no meeting even took place on the subject between Strachan, SFA chief executive Stewart Regan, and President Alan McRae yesterday.
While the meeting with England at Wembley on November 11 looms large – with Scotland currently trailing by three points – it is thought that the former Celtic and Middlesbrough manager is still viewed internally as the right man long-term for the role. He succeeded Craig Levein in January 2013 and has been in charge for 32 games, having won eight of his 19 competitive matches.
And Mark McGhee, his assistant for those matches in charge, gave Strachan his full backing and echoed the suggestions that no summit took place yesterday between his manager and their employers and that their combined focus is completely on the forthcoming Auld Enemy clash with England at Wembley next month.
McGhee, who sat next to Strachan on the flight home from Slovakia, says that the pair haven’t discussed the former Celtic
manager’s state of mind in regards to continuing in the job, and that, even he had to check in with the SFA’s head of communications yesterday morning to see if there had been any developments.
“I’m disappointed with the outcome [on Tuesday night] but I am optimistic that there is still an opportunity that the table can turn,” McGhee said.
“The squad is very tight and it’s a bonus to us that there have been draws elsewhere and that has kept us right in it. It’s still all to play for and that’s the important thing.
“I know we have to do better than we did the other night but I am convinced we have a group of players that can.
“The England game is a fantastic game to be part of. We are three points behind them but who knows? There is a performance within the squad that we can go there and get a result.
“Don’t get me wrong, we are not dismissing those two games, but the fact we are still in it is a bonus and something you think about afterwards. The upside is, that we are still in it.
“I have no indication, he gave me no sign,” McGhee said. “The habit has not been when we’re on the plane that we start talking about the next game, we discuss what happened with England or what we’re going to do next. It was all about the moment.
“We spoke about the ins and outs of the Slovakia game but at no point did we discuss anything other than that. I left him at Glasgow airport and his wife Lesley picked him up and they drove down south because they were going to a funeral yesterday. That’s the last I spoke to him.
“I spoke to Darryl Broadfoot this morning and there’s no indications of meetings [at the SFA] so, as far as I’m concerned, I’m getting on with it.”
McGhee acknowledges that the performances and results over the past week have been some way short of acceptable, and he understands that many supporters will have lost faith with the management team he is a part of as a consequence. He stressed, though, that Strachan’s sole motivation for doing the job is to get the fans to a major tournament.
“I can’t argue with the results,” he said. “We lost 3-0. Therefore the Scotland fans have to say what they will say or take whatever view they take.
“I can’t do anything about that – other, than when we get back together the next time, work hard to get the right formula and get the right result. I do know that we all try our best, even if at times it does not appear like that.
“But I know Gordon Strachan does it for the fans. That’s what his motivation is.”
Another area where Strachan has come in for criticism is for his approach and demeanour when facing the press, with his pithy responses and defence of his players at all costs having brought upon him accusations of insulting the intelligence of supporters.
McGhee understands, however, was well able to give it to his players straight, even if he can’t afford the public the same privilege.
“We all do that,” McGhee said. “But Gordon is not soft. He can make decisions and front things up. “He’s a man in that respect. He will talk to the players with respect. He knows they are not club players and not ours, but he is prepared to dig them out.
“But publicly, like every manager, you want to stand by your players. They are like your children. No matter how badly you think your child is, you don’t want anyone else saying it.
“You would get offended if someone told you how bad your child is, it’s a bit like that in that you want to protect your players from criticism. Gordon has always taken than view.”
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