KEVIN Thomson had a seat in the Middlesbrough dressing room on the day when Gordon Strachan surprised everybody by ripping his contract up and resigning after less than a year in charge. 

Now he hopes the 60-year-old from Edinburgh surprises everyone again by signing up for a third campaign as Scotland manager.

When they meet at Hampden this morning, the SFA board may take some persuasion to entrust their hopes of Euro 2020 qualification to a man who has failed twice before.

But for Thomson the equation boils down to the following: if everyone else would largely select the same players, and the players clearly enjoy working for Strachan, then why on earth should we risk it all by starting again?

Read more: Davie Hay: Genetics or not, Scotland missing out is a bitter pill to swallow

“I would like Gordon Strachan to stay, I have a lot of time for him,” said Thomson.

“I think he will look back, analyse it, and think that the team got better, the squad got stronger, and we started competing a bit better, even though we still ultimately fell at the final hurdle. 

“I think he will be confident in his ability to have another go at the Euros but it remains to be seen whether the board of the SFA feel we should go down a different avenue. I don’t think he will lose any sleep about people’s opinions and criticisms. 

“He will care because we all care but if he played Slovenia again, would he play the same team? I think he would. 

Read more: D-Day for Strachan dawns as SFA board ponder the future

“When you get beaten, it is easy to analyse the performance and pick holes in it, but after 25 minutes everybody thought we were the best team ever. That is why we all love football.”

Then yesterday camesuggestions that Thomson’s old Hibs pal Scott Brown was prepared to extend his international career – at least in part to continue his relationship with Strachan. 

“I have not read Broony’s bit in the paper but I saw a bit on social media and I know just how big a part Gordon played in why he came back,” Thomson said. 

“I can only speak from my own experience and quite simply Gordon is one of the best I have worked with. I am gutted I only got to work with him for a couple of months down at Middlesbrough. He genuinely is top of the tree. 

Read more: Big Eck believes Gordon Strachan is still right man for Scotland job​

“When it comes to Scotland, everybody has a different idea about what team the manager should pick and who should be involved in the squad,” the former Hibs and Rangers midfielder added. 

“But would we really have picked a different squad from the one that Gordon has picked? I don’t think we would. 

“Is he picking the best players available? I think so. Is he picking the best players that he thinks can win the game? I think so. If Scotland go out and get a new manager, is he going to be better than Gordon is? I would find it hard to think that he is going to be.” 

The only problem with all this is – just as at the Riverside Stadium when Middlesbrough sat 20th in the Championship, their lowest placing for 20 years – it is results which always talk loudest. 

“That is where the form guide for the SFA board to consider this morning is patchy, because quite simply they have previously offered him their ‘unanimous’ backing at times when Scotland’s form has been worse.”