Scottish Football Betting: Burley's reign was sabotaged

Scottish Football / Paul Moon / 16 December 2009 / 1 Comments

"Coaching Scotland has become the least attractive job in international management."

Paul Moon sticks up for George Burley, arguing that the ex-Scotland manager was let by players as well as the SFA.

Historically, Scotland's footballing failures have been partially offset by their spirit and passion. But there was a distinct lack of those qualities during the recent 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign where George Burley's side produced dismal, unmotivated football.

Normally in this situation the manager would be largely responsible but on this occasion it was a combination of factors including the SFA, Burley and the squad of players itself. Burley's tenure was sabotaged from within!

He certainly made mistakes with team selection. He was naive, using 52 players in 14 games was absurd, but embarrassing breaches of discipline by key players damaged the team's chances more than any tactical errors. He was further held hostage by three or four seasoned internationals who did not give him respect whilst he doubted the commitment of one or two others. His message was never received and he was destined to fail.

Scotland were ranked 13 by FIFA in October 2007 and played in the weakest group consisting of Iceland, Macedonia, Netherlands and Norway. The loss to Macedonia (ranked 66) and this miss against Norway at home squandered their best chances of qualifying since 1998.

At the end of the campaign the SFA partly absolved Burley and he was given a vote of confidence but two subsequent defeats in friendly matches confirmed the players were not playing for him. The 3-0 defeat to a young experimental Wales side (ranked 33 places lower in the FIFA world rankings) reaffirmed the problem and he belatedly received his marching orders. Burley admitted the side had gone backwards with arguably his strongest side available.

Since Alex McLeish left for Birmingham, coaching Scotland has become the least attractive job in international management. Hopefully one day David Moyes might take the job but until then famous ex-Scottish players will queue up to humiliate the efforts of the current incumbents but from a safe distance.

So where does Burley go from here? There will be those who argue that he lacks presence but club management is different from international; at the right club, he will succeed by coaching his own players rather than organising them.

Once he has licked his wounds and realises he is better for the experience of a World Cup campaign he can return as a better manager. After the backlash displayed towards him north of the border it is hard to imagine him managing there while the English Premier League is a step too far at the moment. A younger team in the Championship or below beckons, perhaps one with a thriving youth academy.

To date he has managed Ayr, Colchester, Ipswich, Derby, Hearts, Southampton and Scotland with moderate to good success and one senses that experience could benefit the next club he manages.

Latest 2010 World Cup prices with Betfair: Spain [5.7] Brazil [6.4] England [7.0] Argentina [11.5] Italy [15.0] Germany [15.0] Netherlands [17.0] France [17.5] Bar [29.0]

Comments (1)

1. The Toffeeman | 22 December 2009

   I have to agree that the players cost Burley his job even if they had qualified they would not have got very far. They do not possess the calibre of players they had in the Sixties, seventies or Eighties . Law, Bremner,Dalglish just to name a few , Scottish football is Rubbish even the top two sides would have a job to hold their own in our championship league and could not live in our premier.
   I do beleive Burley is a fair club manager , he did an excellent job at Ipswich and made it a fortress for clubs to try and win there . But I do not beleive he is capable of Managing any national side .