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Next Scotland Manager


KingBeastie

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If/when the SFA do the right thing and get rid of our worst ever international manager who would you like to see given the job?

Not who do you think will get it (oh ok - that too!) but who would you like?

For me Lars Lagerback. Failing that Gordon Strachan.

Who do I think the SFA will give the job to? Whoever the rangers tell them to or Steve Kean. No just kidding, I think they will go with Strachan or Walter Smith (again).

Your turn...

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The good news is that there are better realistic candidates on the market than there were when we appointed Burley or Levein.

I'd happily take McLeish or Smith back. And like them, Strachan also fits the profile of having a lot of management experience against foreign teams, which is something our recent duds have lacked. I've always been a bit unconvinced that Dalglish would be a good Scotland manager but I'd be happy for him to get a chance. Stuart McCall has had a few mentions for having done so well at a wee club, and there's Billy Davies too, but neither meet my criteria.

Whilst I have sympathy for Levein, it's hard to imagine that any serious contender could have ****ed up this campaign as quickly and comprehensively as he has, so for me the most important thing is that they replace him.

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Doubt that Smith would take the job and names like McCall and Coyle put the fear in me

Personally i would love to see Moyes given the job but the chances of him giving up managing in the EPL are very slim

I am of the opinion however that while a Scottish manager would be nice i do not feel that it is a necessity. I dont think many true Scotland fans would choose dismal football and a Scottish manager over a more competitive team with a foreign manager if he were able to resurrect our fortunes.

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National managers always complain about the long periods of inactivity compared to the day-to-day job of club management. I think that's where a lot of the respect players have for the manager dissolves...

So why not let a serving club manager (McCall?) do the national job as well? With a couple of decent assistants it wouldn't be that hard to scout out the form players, indeed he'd be working right in the middle of it week in week out and keeping a sharp tactical brain. Of course it'd need a willing Chairman to come onside as well but there's a few out there who can see beyond the end of their ginned-up snouts.

Yep, I've decided, I want a serving club manager to take it and do both jobs.

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If like me you'd never heard of Antoine Kombouare (28/1) he's managed various French clubs and is currently at a Saudi club. Can't see any reason for him to be in contention for the Scotland job other than he played for Aberdeen in the 90s.

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Think Alex Mcleish should get the job back, he's done it before and done no bad job.

The players he has to work with will not alter, only the tactics and more importantly the motivation will have to be addressed.

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You're banned!!

Didn't realise asking questions wasn't allowed.

Only chose Pearce as an example. Remember when Craig Brown took over his only club experience was with Clyde and his International experience was with Scotland Youth and U-21's.

Ok - you're banned from using examples. :wink:

stuart pearce is not even good when he's in TV adverts.

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For me, he has to be Scottish. I just don't agree with foreign managers of national teams (why not a Czech left-back then if you just go non-Scots if a Scot isn't good enough? - why is a manager different from a player?).

No to Walter Smith. He left us in mid-competition. I'd also prefer someone different from McLeish, although wouldn't be against him returning.

Dalglish has been great in the past and won a cup with Liverpool last season. He was ditched too early by them in my view (Carroll was England's best attacker in the World Cup and Jordan Henderson was called up for England). I would give Dalglish his chance. He'd be inspiring if nothing else.

Behind him, I'd go for Strachan just above Souness. But a trio of Dalglish, Strachan and Souness to step in is a decent choice. Anyone would do for me.

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Excuse me as an Englishman butting in on your national grief but I do wonder why there is this sudden desparate rush to replace Levein. Just a few games ago he was the new white hope and folk were excited by his appointment. I don't think his approach to international management has changed that much since then.

So if Levein jumps or is pushed in the near future what does that achieve? Will Strachan, McLeish or the Moderator of the Church of Scotland turn things round so that Scotland qualify? No, they won't! Even if Scotland were to win their remaining matches that would not necessarily see them qualifying. Scotland can get a maximum of 20 points and Belgium and Croatia only need another 10 points from 6 games to equal that.

The SFA now need to look to 2016 and beyond and that is a long way away. Levein's appointment and others before his seem to have gone pear shaped in no time at all. So what the SFA need to do is to take a long hard look at what they were aiming for with recent appointments, analyse why things went wrong, consider what they need to do differently in the future and then identify the qualities they will be looking for in a manager to deliver the future strategy. They'll not be able to do that in a week.

In the meantime they should be giving Levein full support and telling him that he will not be dismissed at least until some defined point in the future at the earliest - the point at which it is mathematically impossible for Scotland to qualify, for example. After all, Levein has been working with the SFA, players and coaching staff and has as good a chance of getting some decent results from a reasonable squad as any other manager has.

It was, after all, the SFA who appointed Levein just a short while ago and he is still the same guy now as he was then. If they rush to get rid of him and rush to get someone else in without giving proper thought to what is required, they will simply get it wrong again. If the SFA axe him now, it will say far more about the ineptness of the SFA than about Levein.

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It was, after all, the SFA who appointed Levein just a short while ago and he is still the same guy now as he was then. If they rush to get rid of him and rush to get someone else in without giving proper thought to what is required, they will simply get it wrong again. If the SFA axe him now, it will say far more about the ineptness of the SFA than about Levein.

The SFA have shown more than once in the past few years just how inept they are, so getting the timing wrong for Levein's replacement, would in fact show some consistency!!

However, I think Levein must go. He is tactically naive, and I don't think he has ever recovered from his blunder in Prague last year. Also I don't get the impression that he is a good motivator.

As to his replacement it is interesting to read the various candidates people have suggested.

I don't have a particular hang up about it being a foreigner, even an Englishman ( but not Pearce) if whoever is chosen is right for the job. But my preference would be for a Scot. I personally wouldn't want Strachan, Dalgleish or Souness. McLeish seems the best of the bunch to me (and he didn't do too badly at it before), but I think that Doofer's Dad is right when he says that the SFA should give it proper consideration and not rush into a quick appointment they might later rue.

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I dont think Levien was ever the great white hope as you put it. He was given a chance though and has shown himself up to be not the man for the job. He has won three games since taking charge, two of them against Lichtenstien, and has never attempted to win games. His philosophy has always been to defend and hope for the best. Scotlands past successes, much like ICT's, have come when we've been attack minded.

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Some fair points by Dad, BUT Levein has been manager since 2009 and his best result in a competitve match is a 1-0 home win against Lithuania. An absolutely appalling record by any standards, and far worse than Vogts or Burley.

I agree its all about 2016 now, which is why he should go now to let the new guy settle in, and hopefully stop us dropping into the 5th pot of balls for future campaigns. A dead man walking for the rest of this campaign, in front of an empty Hamden, isn't good for anyone.

Some might say Levein hasn't had much luck, but do we really want to stick with an unlucky manager?!

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Scotlands past successes, much like ICT's, have come when we've been attack minded.

You really are talking about the past there. There's no way a squad as poor as ours can win by outplaying far better teams. That's what Burley tried. Look where it got him.

Getting tanked 5-0 won't do it - and that's what would happen if we've got flying wingers not covering our p!$$ poor defence. We need someone that can play a team to the best of their limits. Strachan did that in Europe. Even when they lost against Manchester United, it was Berbatov that had two offside goals.

Tactical, counter-attacking and inspiring. Not ultra-defensive or head-in-the-clouds. We've tried them. Brown, Smith and McLeish were all tactical but with an eye for a goal. That has to be the way forward.

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