Amidst the talk of Gordon Strachan deserving the sack in the aftermath of Scotland’s World Cup dream dying in Slovenia on Sunday, I would argue that two things he does deserve is thanks, and time.

Not more time in the job, per se, but time to reflect upon his position as a token of gratitude for giving the job his all in these last few years.

Gordon has now been in charge for four years, and I don’t doubt that he has put absolutely everything into trying to bring success to the national team.

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The players seem to enjoy working with him, and no doubt would like him to stay on.

Unfortunately, those four years have resulted in three failed qualifying campaigns. The first, you can’t lay any blame at his door for, having come in half way through the campaign with our qualification prospects already close to being dead in the water.

But the two campaigns since have not yielded much improvement. Not only have we failed to qualify for a major tournament, but we’ve failed to even make a play-off.

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It may sound harsh, but surely that is the minimum expected of a Scotland manager? There isn’t another credible football nation in the world where two failed campaigns wouldn’t result in the manager being shown the door.

Gordon is a realist. I would be surprised if that thought isn’t entering his mind as he mulls over his future.

You can’t lay all the blame for our failures at the door of the manager, and who knows, perhaps if he had picked different players on Sunday night then they would have bombed too.

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It was always going to be hard to win in Slovenia, but the real issues came earlier in the campaign, when he was far too loyal to certain players.

By the time he realised the error of his ways, we already had a mountain to climb. It all came down to that draw a year ago against Lithuania at Hampden.

To qualify for the playoffs, Scotland had to take every point from the teams ranked below us. We didn’t, and we paid the price.

After that of course, the shackles came off, the Celtic players came in, and things undoubtedly got a little better. But it still wasn’t good enough, and the damage had been done.

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I don’t feel comfortable calling for any manager’s head, particularly one I have a lot of time for in Gordon Strachan, but I will be surprised if he decides he wants to stay on.

If he does, then the SFA have a huge decision to make. Do they back their man, who they clearly rate enormously, and risk the wrath of the Tartan Army? I don’t think they could.

I have heard the argument that we shouldn’t tear everything up and start again, but I have come to the conclusion that it would be better for Scotland if the manager stepped aside. And I hope Gordon Strachan draws the same conclusion, too.