Meet the SFA's charming man

WHEN IT came down to choosing a new Scotland manager the SFA cannot deny that they made a meal of it.

Ten nights ago, their senior figures sat down to dinner to discuss the contenders to succeed Alex McLeish. The official line goes like this: somewhere between starter and dessert a name emerged which was palatable to all. By the time coffee arrived the four men - Gordon Smith, George Peat, Campbell Ogilvie and Alan McRae - had surprised even themselves by coming to a unanimous verdict. To all intents and purposes that was the moment when George Burley became the new manager of Scotland. All very neat and tidy.

Mark McGhee, Graeme Souness and Tommy Burns were also on the menu that night but missed out, apparently because out of them all Burley had been the most persuasive interviewee.
advertisement

"When we sat down I thought there's no chance we will all agree on this'," said Peat. "I was astounded when we all come up with the same name. We just said who would be your number one man' and the four of us came up with the same guy." That's the line from the restaurant and the SFA is sticking to it.

Burley is a perfectly sound choice but his personality doesn't burn at the same wattage as McGhee or Souness and if the SFA had gone into the interview process with a completely open mind - as was claimed - then it would be surprising if the former Ipswich, Hearts, Derby County and Southampton manager bowled over not only Smith but the other three as well. Then again, he does have a track record of success when it comes to selling himself to potential employers. He interviewed more impressively than a number of other candidates to land the Ipswich job in 1994 and seems not to have lost that knack 14 years later. Dapper and smooth, the 51-year-old has an easy charm with which he has talked himself into one of the three pressure-cooker jobs of Scottish football.

"It was a well-organised interview, informal, relaxed," he said later. "I think they just wanted a feel for the person they were going to offer the job to. In any interview you just have to be yourself. I can't change. I was very fortunate to work with one of the best managers in the world, Sir Bobby Robson, but if you tried to emulate everything he did then you wouldn't be able to. As a player I worked under Jock Stein and that is the same."

The SFA has taken a kicking for the way it went about whittling down the contenders, for allowing information to leak out about its preferred candidate and for the fact its chief executive, Smith, criticised the media while live television cameras were rolling at Burley's unveiling. The public is too sensible to care a damn about any of that and correctly regards spats between officials and the press as totally irrelevant.

What mattered was this: Smith drew up an initial list of 20 names from which he and the other office-bearers selected five: Burley, McGhee, Souness, Burns and Billy Davies, who did not wish to be considered. Those on the shortlist were interviewed for an hour each, asked identical questions. When it came to Burley, Peat did not know "what kind of guy he was, what his ideas were or anything" at the start of that hour.

By the end of it he had been impressed by his credentials and - if such a delicate matter were raised at all - presumably satisfied the unsubstantiated rumours about excessive drinking that have dogged Burley for years were unfair. There are tabloid hacks who sense there is material to be had from Burley's private life and will spend time trying to uncover it, but subjecting himself to the scrutiny and intrusion which comes with managing Scotland is the act of a man confident he has nothing to hide.

Burley the football manager will gradually take shape in Scotland's consciousness over the coming weeks and months. He is not one of those bosses who frequently calls his peers for reassurance or guidance, although he did contact his old Ipswich mentor, Robson, who experienced international management with England. "Sir Bobby was one I wanted to listen to before I knew I would be interviewed and then before I went for the interview. Because of his verve and excitement, when he speaks to you, you listen."

And did the famously forgetful 74-year-old remember Burley's name? "He said well John' "

Burley inherits a talented squad from two successful predecessors and must maintain the momentum created by Walter Smith and McLeish if Scotland are to have a chance of living with favourites Holland and third seeds Norway in the forthcoming World Cup qualifying campaign.

"I don't think there are going to be wholesale changes," Burley said. "It's a good squad with a lot of appetite and desire, which is very important. But if there is the opportunity and I think it feels right to bring in one or two young players or change things slightly then I will do."

Much of the squad picks itself but every new manager likes to make his own impression. Rangers' Steven Naismith, with one cap to his name already, should welcome the appointment given that Burley tried to sign him for Derby when the striker was still with Kilmarnock.

The most pressing concern is a long-term replacement for Davie Weir and adequate provision in the full-back areas.

"There are areas where we look very strong. In other areas you would maybe think if we get an injury things might not be quite right. In Scotland we are not going to have 11 world-class players - things have changed a wee bit in that respect - but what we have is a group who want to work for each other and some quality players among them. That can make a very formidable team."

Burley was at Hampden for the Euro 2008 qualifying victory over France - to be fair, doesn't everyone now claim to have been there? - and will return there to begin his reign in the March 26 friendly against Croatia, the nation that dumped England out of the European Championships.

"It's a tough game but, yes, go for it! It's going to show me a few things straight away. England couldn't cope with them."

England themselves remain potential opponents in May. "That is an intriguing fixture. I think every Scotsman would like to play against England. A lot of things would have to be looked into closely but personally I certainly wouldn't rule it out."

The process of familiarising himself with the players will include a two day squad get-together from February 6 as well as a busy itinerary of watching live matches starting yesterday at Ibrox. In the summer, he will have the chance to watch Holland at Euro 2008 and then organise a final friendly in August before the World Cup campaign begins the following month with an away double-header in Macedonia and Iceland.

That amounts to nine months for the new man to work his slow charm on the nation.

Taken from the Sunday Herald