Scott Brown last night took aim at the SFA over their decision to
jettison Scotland boss Gordon Strachan and said: You’ve blown it.
The national skipper lambasted the move as a ‘sad, sad, sad, day’ after the Hampden blazers tore up Strachan’s contract just four days after our World Cup dreams were shredded following Sunday night’s 2-2 draw in Slovenia.
But Brown insisted Strachan still had the support of his players, who felt he could lead them to Euro 2020.
The Celtic captain, who now looks set to quit international football for a second time, posted on his Instagram account: “We all had faith in Gordon and believed in making the Euros. 14 points out of 18 in 2017 momentum was on our side.”
However, former Scotland stars Graeme Souness and Davie Provan said the SFA made the right call. Ex-Celt Provan said: “I don’t think the SFA had any alternative, to be honest with you,” he told Sky Sports News HQ.
“Gordon himself would have to admit he’s been given a fair crack of the whip over five years and two campaigns. So Gordon can’t accuse the SFA of being unfair to him.
“I think what they would have taken into consideration is that Gordon still had the support of his players and that would have weighed heavily on their minds.
“Overall you can’t argue with results and we’ve come up short again. I think (the SFA) have taken a sensible decision.”
Read more: Celtic trio Scott Brown, Stuart Armstrong and Jozo Simunovic all ready for Bayern Munich test
In their statement announcing Strachan’s departure, the SFA said it had “agreed” with the 60-year-old that fresh leadership was required ahead of their Euro 2020 bid.
And former Scotland captain Graeme Souness feels his former international colleague had taken the side as far as he could.
The former Rangers and Liverpool boss told Sky Sports News HQ: “It’s sad we didn’t qualify this time round from what was a relatively easy group.
“I think had we qualified or at least got second, he’d have stayed and looked forward possibly to the next Euros.
“It’s all about results. He’s not got what he wanted in terms of qualifying so I know Gordon and he wouldn’t have hung about if he felt he couldn’t do that job.
“As a national manager you can only pick what’s out there and right now Scotland don’t have a fabulous group to pick from.
“The professional in him will say, ‘We should have qualified’ and Gordon will get criticism because he’s a football manager - like all managers do.
“But I wouldn’t criticise him because I think he did a good job with what he had to work with.”
David Moyes now leads the bookmakers’ list of potential candidates but Provan admits Scotland will struggle to attract a top name unless they are prepared to pay accordingly.
He said: “I don’t think David Moyes could be attracted back into football for the Scotland job.
“I think we have to face it that the Scotland job no longer holds the attraction that it once did when we had people like Jock Stein in the position.
“What I do believe is the SFA need to make the position as attractive as possible, even if that means hiking the salary.
“There is no doubt managers can make a lot more money in club football than they could by managing Scotland.”
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