Gordon Strachan (Scotland manager)

[AJS]

Seems like he is the new National Gaffer, announcement to be made tomorrow. Thoughts on it? Personally i think he is the best manager we could have got if we were gonna stay Scottish. 

[lukemackay]

i do not care for him very much.

[Renegade]

History seems to suggest he's rubbish without money.  For that reason I won't be holding my breadth.  He's a horrid little man as well.

 

Apparently as well, Lagerback's expressed an interest in the job.  Ridiculous not to look at him, his record at international level is pretty strong. Strachan's is non-existant.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Renegade

[starchief]

Not my first choice but glad we have a Scottish manager - anything else would make a mockery of internationals (why not just support Spain if nationality doesn't matter?). I'd have gone for someone like Joe Jordan or Kenny Dalglish myself but I'm not disappointed in Strachan. The current campaign is done but he'll build towards the next. Give us some fight back.

[PullMyFinger]

Looking forward to press conferences.

[CaleyD]

Until we sort out football all the way to grass roots and start bringing through more quality players, then I don't think it makes a lot of difference who the manager is.

[starchief]

Grass roots are there. But then they disappear off to sit on a bench in Colchester at 18, forsaking any development into a true professional. And guess what? It's what Scottish fans want! They'd rather the best players went to Derby than Dundee United, maintaining that fall in SPL quality.

[bdu98196]

Oh well, not really excited about WGS getting the role, but resigned to him maybe being one of only a few options worth considering. Lets just see how it goes - we can't get much worse so the only way is up.

[Yngwie]

Best option available IMO. But then again, I also thought Levein was a good appointment.

[+Gringo]

Can't see him lasting the pace to be honest. The team will only be as good as the players available. At this point in time Scotland hasn't got that quality.

[Alex MacLeod]

Cant wait for his well thought out and interesting post match comments.

[Rival]

Hopefully he will notice some Cakey players rather than these English born players that are being brought in

[Rival]

Push on for 2090 world cup! We might even have a chance then!

[ilpadrino]

Hopefully he will notice some Cakey players rather than these English born players that are being brought in

 

Like these?

 

[+Fraz]

Hopefully he will notice some Cakey players rather than these English born players that are being brought in

 

Like these?

 

 

Bet they put in some tasty challenges. 

[Scotty]

The only time I ever laughed at one of his jokes was this one

 

Reporter:"Can I have a quick word?"

GS: "Aye, velocity"

 

Kind of underwhelmed with this, but seriously, can he do much worse than recent incumbents? Last time I was underwhelmed with the announcements of Scottish bosses was Roxburgh and Brown .... both of whom did statistically better than most !

[Alex MacLeod]

Can he do worse? I dont think so but I cant see him doing much better, in the short term, with the current squad. However, and I hope GS can see past his favourite teams, there is upcoming talent out there. Even in the SPL there are players who would give their all for country. Our own Andy Shinnie being one.

What I'd like to see is for GS to have the chance to build a team from the many youngsters and not from the has beens that other managers have chosen.

[PullMyFinger]

Agreed, WC 2014 is a lost cause altough his target is to avoid finishing bottom of the group but 2016 gives him a few years to mould a team that can hopefully not embarass us. Maybe even qualify?

[KingBeastie]

Can't see him lasting the pace to be honest. The team will only be as good as the players available. At this point in time Scotland hasn't got that quality.

 

Have to disagree Gringo...

Levein had the best crop of players available to any Scotland manager since Craig Brown.  If you look at the complete duds that Berti tried out (Maurice Ross, Robbie Stockdale, Paul Devlin anyone?) it's a wonder he got us to a play off - nevermind won the first leg.

The current crop of players, while I am not saying that they are world beaters, are the best any manager has had to deal with for many years and Smith and McLeish did not too bad with worse.  The blame lies mostly with the utter arrogance, incompetence and buffoonery of Craig Latrine in my opinion.

 

Burley was on a hiding to nothing with the media from the moment he started - the very first headlines about him were criticising his tie at his inaugural press conference.  Compare this to the way they treated Smith and McLeish... Do you think they will f**kin dare try that sh*t with Strachan??????  I think we all know what response they'd get.

 

I feel that in the short space of time a manager has with his players at international level GS can make a difference and use this effectively.  I'm not saying he's going to magically make everything better but I do feel your comment of him not "lasting the pace" I have to disagree with.

 

 

 

That's all I have to say about that!

[+DoofersDad]

Speaking as an Englishman, I would say that English players would far rather face a Scotland team led out onto the park by Levein than one led onto the park by Strachan.

 

Scotland is too small a country to have a team of top quality players but it can have a top quality team.  One of the key ingredients of that is passion.  Not only does Strachan have that, he can transmit that to his players.  I think he's the man for the job.

[starchief]

Whenever I see James Morrison on Match of the Day, he looks a real player.  If I was WGS, I'd build my team around him and the inevitable Steven Fletcher upfront.  Width provided by Naismith and Maloney (probably not at the same time, depending on opposition) and Forrest in the future.  For me, it's either Brown or Fletcher.   Too similar to play together.  Unfortunately, illness has decided which one.  The only Scotsman that can pass a ball is Adam it seems.  I know there is criticism but, honestly, who else can pass?  Unfortunately, I don't see Andrew Shinnie as being the quality needed.  Sacrilege I know but true.

 

Full-backs are ok but our central defence is absolutely shocking.  Gary Caldwell, despite being much criticised is far and away our best central defender.  I wonder if McManus might make a return.  Not been great for Mboro and been on loan but I don't think Berra or...who?...Webster??? are any better (or worse but then, no relationship at club level).

 

Yep, some will think differently but who would you have instead?  No point complaining if you can't give a better alternative.

[ictchris]

History seems to suggest he's rubbish without money.  For that reason I won't be holding my breadth.  He's a horrid little man as well.

 

Apparently as well, Lagerback's expressed an interest in the job.  Ridiculous not to look at him, his record at international level is pretty strong. Strachan's is non-existant.

Lagerback was linked but he is manager of Iceland at the moment.

Strachan's managerial record is pretty decent:

- Coventry: Kept them in the Premiership for three seasons, sacked when they got relegated, subsequent evidence suggests that they aren't a Premiership level club.

- Southampton: Finished 11th and 8th and got them to the FA Cup final.

- Celtic: The first Celtic manager since Jock Stein to win three successive titles. Took Celtic to the knock out stages of the Champions League for the first time and then did the same the next season. He did this against a Rangers side who spent a lot of money and invested heavily during that time.

- Middlesborough: Terrible record, just didn't get it right.

He was a success at Southampton and Celtic, half-and-half at Coventy and a failure at Middlesborough. He's managed and played at a high level and has a superior record to Levein, who was overpromoted after a semi-decent spell with Hearts, abject failure in England and a good spell at Dundee Utd.

One thing that's important is that he'll have a good level of self-confidence and a more natural feel for this level of management than Levein did. Things like 4-6-0 smack to me of 'over-thinking' and a lack of self belief. Strachan knows he's succeeded in England and managed in the Champions League. he's a good motivator and that's important for an international coach.

As for him not being a nice person, I think that's often overstated but in any case if he can get the team winning then I doubt people will care whether or not he eats live puppies and votes UKIP.

Scotland actually have a decent side at the moment, if we were set up right. We have players competing regularly in the Premiership in a number of positions and a manager who can set the team up well could have success.

Edited January 16, 2013 by ictchris

[IBM]

Can't see him lasting the pace to be honest. The team will only be as good as the players available. At this point in time Scotland hasn't got that quality.

 

Have to disagree Gringo...

Levein had the best crop of players available to any Scotland manager since Craig Brown.  If you look at the complete duds that Berti tried out (Maurice Ross, Robbie Stockdale, Paul Devlin anyone?) it's a wonder he got us to a play off - nevermind won the first leg.

The current crop of players, while I am not saying that they are world beaters, are the best any manager has had to deal with for many years and Smith and McLeish did not too bad with worse.  The blame lies mostly with the utter arrogance, incompetence and buffoonery of Craig Latrine in my opinion.

 

Burley was on a hiding to nothing with the media from the moment he started - the very first headlines about him were criticising his tie at his inaugural press conference.  Compare this to the way they treated Smith and McLeish... Do you think they will f**kin dare try that sh*t with Strachan??????  I think we all know what response they'd get.

 

I feel that in the short space of time a manager has with his players at international level GS can make a difference and use this effectively.  I'm not saying he's going to magically make everything better but I do feel your comment of him not "lasting the pace" I have to disagree with.

 

 

 

That's all I have to say about that!

You wern't a fan of Levein then!   

[lukemackay]

Full-backs are ok but our central defence is absolutely shocking.  Gary Caldwell, despite being much criticised is far and away our best central defender.  I wonder if McManus might make a return.  Not been great for Mboro and been on loan but I don't think Berra or...who?...Webster??? are any better (or worse but then, no relationship at club level).

 

grant hanley, and danny wilson, are the to best young centre halfs at the moment imo. id have one of them ahead of the likes of berra and webster. wilson cant buy a game right now, but hanleys a regular for blackburn, so id start hanley next to caldwell, say what you want about caldwell, but hes always there when called upon, and with a youngster next to him to help sweep up his occasional mistakes. it could be a formidable partnership imo. berra, and webster are bang average, international football needs that bit extra either athleticism or tactical nous they have neither. hanleys the one i think that can step up, and in time when wilson gets more game time he can come in. but they are our only two young centre halfs with any prospect from what i can see. the only other i can think of is fraser kerr, the 19 year old on loan at motherwell. hes looked decent this season. one to watch. the rest such as perry, hanlon, etc are good but still have a way to go if they want to have successful international careers.

 

i just hope the young players do step up, because we bloody need them too. hope strachan can get the players fired up. passionate performances will lead to the fans growing passionate again.

[PullMyFinger]

Speaking as an Englishman, I would say that English players would far rather face a Scotland team led out onto the park by Levein than one led onto the park by Strachan.

 

Scotland is too small a country to have a team of top quality players but it can have a top quality team.  One of the key ingredients of that is passion.  Not only does Strachan have that, he can transmit that to his players.  I think he's the man for the job.

 

I don't think you meant that? If you did, feck off. Scotland is big enough to do whatever the people of Scotland want, that there is such a disparity in television money between countries in the UK leads the better players to move where the money is and they end up playing in an anonymous set up where they are easily overlooked. This is a discussion for another thread but I'll make a statement here.

*Nat hat on*

An independent Scotland would be in a position to demand money from broadcasters to transmit foreign competitions in Scotland. If that money was then invested into the Scottish game we could retain our best players for longer and give them a chance to develop their full potential.

*Nat hat off*