Chorus of approval for George Burley from Scottish coaches

George Burley’s appointment as Scotland manager was met with a positive reaction from three of the top managers in the domestic game. Jim Jefferies, Jimmy Calderwood and John Hughes, the managers of Kilmarnock, Aberdeen and Falkirk, respectively, were all eager to show their support to Burley, who took his bow at Hampden Park yesterday afternoon.

Jefferies, who like Burley is a former Heart of Midlothian manger, insisted: “Everyone should get behind George.” And Calderwood believes Burley has the qualities to succeed after listening to glowing reports from Scotland internationals, Paul Hartley and Steven Pressley. Hughes, who was briefly a teammate of Burley at Falkirk, described the SFA’s decision to choose the 51-year-old as “a right good appointment”.

Jefferies was briefly linked with the Scotland post, which became vacant when Alex McLeish resigned to take charge at Birmingham City in late November. Nonetheless, the Kilmarnock manager believes the SFA has chosen the right man, with Burley beating fellow shortlisted candidates Mark McGhee, Tommy Burns and Graeme Souness to the job.

Jefferies said: “George Burley is a good appointment. He’s a manager with experience in both England and Scotland and that will be a big advantage. It’s the right time for him. He’s a good man-manager. The expectation level is greater because Scotland have done so well recently but I think he’s a good choice. We should forget about who was quoted for the job and everyone should get behind George, and if he needs help, we should help him in any way we can.” Burley’s target is to take Scotland to the 2010 World Cup. “I wish him well and hope he can take Scotland through,” Jefferies added.

Calderwood recalled how he first met Burley, and revealed he has been impressed by his methods in management. “I played with George in the Scottish youth team a long, long time ago,” the Aberdeen manager said. “He is a quiet person, but very studious about the game. He did wonderfully well at Colchester and was fantastic at Ipswich where he was named manager of the year in England.

“He also did great jobs at Derby and Hearts, so I wish him good luck and it is not an easy position to go into after all of the good work done by Walter Smith and Alex McLeish. We are all Scotland supporters at heart though and I think everyone in the country who wants the national team to do well will wish him all the best.

“I never really got a chance to see much of him during his time at Hearts and we played them very early on in that season where we got beaten 2-0 in what was a hard game. I have spoken to George a couple of times during my travels in England and the last time was at a reserve game in London when he was manager of Southampton.

“Talking to the likes of Paul Hartley and Steven Pressley, they were very impressed with him and when good professionals such as that speak highly of someone then that says enough for me.”

As well as playing alongside Burley in 1993, Hughes, the Falkirk manager, came up against him during the new Scotland manager’s ill-fated spell in charge at Hearts.

Hughes said: “He’s got a name as a right good coach. He came to Falkirk for a short spell and played one or two games but you could see as soon as he came in how professional he was.

“He was a right good lad and he has done a great job at most of the clubs he has been at, especially getting Ipswich into Europe. His teams play good football, so he’s a right good appointment and I wish him all the best.

“Talking in the football domain everybody speaks very highly of him and what we have to do as a nation is get right behind George and wish him all the best.”

Mixu Paatelainen, the new Hibernian manager, joined in with the chorus of approval. The Finn said: “I think it’s an excellent appointment. I’ve not worked with him at all and don’t know him, but from what I’ve heard he’s a good coach and very experienced, although still relatively young.

“He’s done well when he’s been in Scotland and in England. He’s been in the Premiership and took Ipswich to Europe which is a great achievement. Hopefully, it’s the right appointment.

“Everyone hopes the Scottish national football team will be successful. People realise the revival in Scotland abroad, because Scotland used to qualify for all the finals. Playing against the likes of Italy and France, and beating the latter, it’s a fantastic achievement from a small country. People take notice of it. There are fewer players to choose from here compared to bigger nations.”

Gus MacPherson, the St Mirren manager, admitted he had not seen Burley’s appointment coming, however he expects great things from Scotland under the new manager.

MacPherson said: “I think George was the dark horse out of the four candidates but his managerial record, when you really look at it, is exceptional. With the group of players he’s got to work with and from speaking to people his management style should really suit the players. Everyone should be looking forward to it. It’s an exciting time and we’ve all got to support him.”

David Sheepshanks, the Ipswich chairman, who saw Burley enjoy a largely successful spell at Portman Road from 1994 to 2002, expects the former Tractor Boys manager to be a hit with Scotland.

Sheepshanks told the club’s website: “He is a very patriotic person and was very proud to have played for his country and now to be manager as well is a fantastic honour for him.

“He has many skills to bring to the job. He has worked at the top level in England and Scotland, has a good knowledge of European football and has been a club boss for many years.

“I’m sure he has all the credentials to bring success to the Scotland job and everyone at Ipswich wishes him well.”

Life and times of George Burley

1956 Born June 3, in Cumnock, Ayrshire.
1972 Joins Ipswich Town as an apprentice.
1973 Makes senior debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford, and marks George Best.
1978 Member of the Ipswich side which upset the odds to defeat Arsenal 1-0 in FA Cup Final.
1981 Injury forces him out of Ipswich’s Uefa Cup final triumph over AZ Alkmaar. But Town miss out on the first division title on last day, finishing runners-up to Aston Villa and beaten by Manchester City in FA Cup semi-final.
1985 Joins Sunderland after making 500 appearances for Ipswich.
1988 Joins Gillingham.
1989 Joins Motherwell.
1990 Appointed player-manager of Ayr United.
1993 Moves to Falkirk as a player before returning to Motherwell as player-coach.
1994 June: Crosses border again to become player-manager of Colchester United and makes promising start at Layer Road. December: Returns to Ipswich four days after resigning at Colchester.
1995-96 Builds an exciting young side which tops the divisional scoring charts but just misses out of the first division play-offs. 1996-97 Loses play-off semi-final to Sheffield United on away goals.
1997-98 Takes Ipswich into play-offs again only to fall to Charlton Athletic in semi-finals.
1998-99 Ipswich make play-offs for third year running but this time bow out to Bolton Wanderers in semi-finals on away goals. 1999-2000 Ipswich miss out on automatic promotion on last day of season. Defeat Bolton 5-3 on aggregate to finally make it to Wembley play-off final where they beat Barnsley 4-2.
2000-01 Finish fifth in Premiership to earn a place in the Uefa Cup – only missing out on a Champions League spot on the final day of the season. Named manager of the year by the League Managers’ Association.
2001-02 Despite wins over Torpedo Moscow and Helsingborg, Uefa Cup adventure ends with a 4-1 defeat in the San Siro at the hands of Inter Milan. Ipswich make a terrible start to the league campaign and relegation is confirmed on the final day of the season with a 5-0 loss at Liverpool.
2002 Ipswich win a place in the Uefa Cup through the Fair Play League but after winning their first two first division games Town’s league form slumps, with a 3-0 defeat at Grimsby Town a low point. October 11: With Ipswich nineteenth in the table, Burley is sacked. October 30: Turns down Stoke City job and Tony Pulis is appointed instead.
2003 March 31: Appointed as interim manager of Derby County. May 6: Signs a two-year contract with the Rams.
2004 May: Derby escape relegation from first division by a point.
2005 Makes some shrewd signings, in particular Inigo Idiakez and Grzegorz Rasiak, and Derby finish fourth in the Championship, but lose semi-final play-off to Preston North End. June 7: Resigns as manager of Derby. June 30: Appointed head coach at Heart of Midlothian, who start the season with eight consecutive league wins. October 21: Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov takes his shareholding in the club to 55 per cent. Burley says: “It’s great news. One of the reasons I came to Hearts was after going to Lithuania to speak to Mr Romanov.” October 22: With Hearts three points clear of Celtic at the top of the table, Burley parts company with the club following a disagreement with Romanov. December 22: Southampton announce Burley will be their new head coach.
2007 May 15: Leads Southampton to the Coca-Cola Championship play-offs after finishing sixth. Saints go out on penalties to eventual play-off winners Derby. August 13: Saints knocked out of the Carling Cup by League Two side Peterborough. January 23: The Scottish Football Association offer Burley the job of Scotland manager. Southampton agree to release Burley after settling on compensation with the SFA, and contract negotiations begin. Scottish FA president George Peat says: “We think we’ve got the right man.” January 24: Burley is unveiled as Scotland manager, saying: “My dream is to qualify for the World Cup.”

Stark choices

Billy Stark has named his first squad since being named Scotland Under-21 manager. The former Queen’s Park manager has selected a 22-man squad for the International Vale do Tejo Tournament in Portugal next month. There were few surprises in the pool, with no new caps, and prolific front three Steven Naismith, Steven Fletcher and Ross McCormack are all included. However, the likes of Paul Dixon, the Dundee full-back, and Marc Fitzpatrick, the Motherwell midfield player, are not in the party.

Scotland take on the hosts in Abrantes on February 5 before playing Ukraine or Sweden the following day. Stark took charge last month after being preferred to Maurice Malpas, the caretaker manager, who led the Scotland to successive convincing wins over Lithuania and Slovenia in the Uefa Under-21 Championship qualifiers.

Stark’s first qualifying game will take place at Pittodrie against Finland, the group leaders, on March 26, with a 5.30pm kick-off. Goalkeepers: J MacDonald (Heart of Midlothian), C Smith (St Mirren). Defenders: A Considine (Aberdeen), S Cuthbert (Celtic), G Kenneth (Dundee United), K McCann (Hibernian), R O’Leary (Kilmarnock), M Reynolds (Motherwell), T Scobbie (Falkirk), L Wallace (Heart of Midlothian). Midfield: S Arfield (Falkirk), G Cameron (Dundee United), J Hamill (Kilmarnock), K McDonald (Dundee), C Mulgrew (Wolverhampton Wanderers), R Quinn (Celtic), L Stevenson (Hibernian). Forwards: R Campbell (Hibernian), C Elliot (Heart of Midlothian), S Fletcher (Hibernian), R McCormack (Motherwell), S Naismith (Rangers).

Taken from timesonline.co.uk