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By George, I think he's got it

Dave Bowler

1/31/08

It wasn’t announced via the formal puff of white smoke above the Scottish FA headquarters - not unless you count the cloud of nicotine round the back of the building from all those aficionados of the tab driven out of their office on smoking break - but George Burley was finally, formally, anointed as leader of the Scottish nation on 24th January.

The recruitment process was hardly smooth and it took plenty of time given that we could have all worked out just who was going to be on the shortlist within five minutes of Alex McLeish turning up in Birmingham. But in the end, given that Fabio Capello was already taken, and that Steve McClaren wasn’t, the SFA seems to have got the best man that’s out there, though you could have made a strong case for Mark McGhee.

In the end though, Premier League experience in England seems to have been the key, Burley taking Ipswich into Europe on a shoestring. That Premiership success - albeit seven years ago - should make

such a compelling case is fascinating particularly as that seems to be the one thing that goes against anybody who actually wants to manage England.

What will be intriguing in the months to come is discovering just how shrewd McLeish was. Did he get out when the getting was good and his reputation was at its highest? Did he look at his side and think, “I’ve taken this lot as far as they’re going - except McFadden, I’ll take him as far as Birmingham”?

It now appears that McLeish was on his way to St Andrew’s - the football ground, not the golf course - as the balls were coming out of the bingo caller at the World Cup draw in Durban. The legacy that he handed on without ever using it is a potentially thrilling one.

It’s also something of a poisoned chalice, for Burley comes into the job with the footballing public in Scotland more confident of success that at any time since the triumphal send off of the squad to Argentina from Hampden in 1978 - and we all know what happened then. No, it’s nothing like the same scale of hysteria, that lesson was learnt the hard way, but with Scotland facing Holland, Norway, Macedonia and Iceland, everybody is expecting a second place finish at worst, and victory in the play-off seems to be taken for granted. Except it never is quite that simple.

For Burley though, the expectations seem pretty stark. Take Scotland to the 2010 World Cup or you’ll have failed. Fair play to the man, he accepts that and, in a stirring acceptance speech worthy of Mel Gibson himself, he made it clear that nobody cares more about succeeding than he does.

“As a manager, it’s a great honour to manage your country. It’s something you want to do if given the opportunity. I never thought it would ever happen. When Scotland showed interest, there were so many excellent candidates with huge experience.

To be asked to be manager of your country is a great honour and something I’m really looking forward to.

“After being a manager for almost 16 years now, I feel I’m ready for it and I’m pleased the SFA has shown faith and belief in giving me the job. As a Scotsman you have a vision to do well for your country and taking this job gives me the opportunity to do something, to try to get to a World Cup finals and, as a manager, you can’t ask for any more than that.

“There are tingles of excitement going through me thinking of it. Now the dream is to qualify for the World Cup. It’s not going to be easy but there is that belief now. I’m certainly up for the challenge. Let’s go for it and give it our best shot.”

Let’s hope the tingles don’t turn out to be shingles, but Burley is as good a bet as there is out there. A devotee of passing football, that element of his creed is perfectly suited to international football where you can’t simply hit it long and try to pressure the opposition by simply being fitter than they are. In the world game, you have to get hold of the ball and keep it, because if you don’t, you’ll get picked off.

What will make him or break him may be his willingness to adapt to a more defensive mindset. At Ipswich, Derby and Southampton, Burley’s attitude has been almost wholly attack minded. His sides produce some terrific football and are also capable of taking a thumping. And in World Cup groups, where you’ll play just eight games, one thumping can be catastrophic.

For all the results and performances in the Euro ‘08 campaign, Scotland do not have a clutch of great players. There’s discipline, organisation and tactical nous, but not necessarily the kind of flair that Burley has relied upon at club level.

And in the final analysis, in the absence of a transfer market, that’s what international football comes down to. Have you got the players? George Burley is about to find out if Scotland have, and he’s going to have to do it the hard way. Burley is a decent, honest man who cares passionately about playing football the right way. On that basis alone he deserves every success in the years ahead. We wish him well.

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