Burley stokes the fires as the temperature soars in Skopje

Published on Saturday 6 September 2008 00:01

Patriotism, pride and passion are the themes as manager seeks winning start to Scotland's World Cup campaign.

GEORGE Burley yesterday delivered the kind of speech that earned Mel Gibson an Oscar and enough money to support a lifetime of indulgence. For Scotland's national team manager, inspiring his players to produce a performance that will at least prevent defeat here in Skopje this afternoon will be reward enough.

On the eve of the crucial away match which launches the World Cup qualifying campaign, Burley's talk was largely concerned with patriotism, pride and passion, giving rise to the hope that the Scots are not to be reliant solely on what is commonly known as their traditional fighting spirit for a positive result against Macedonia.

In the place where Croatia have recently been beaten and England struggled to a sweaty single-goal victory, it seems clear that a measure of subtlety, flair and inventiveness will be required to underpin the Scots' renowned tenacity. The searing heat will be a factor, with temperatures heading for the high 90s. How Scotland cope with the conditions will be central to the outcome, and last night the players took in plenty of water as they trained at the stadium in cooler conditions than they can expect this afternoon.

But Burley has already made his point about the temperature, and despite persistent prompting, rarely strayed from the line he had already decided to walk, the one that would allow him to by-pass the need to become embroiled in such (possibly tiresome) aspects of the assignment as offering an insight into how his team might be set up to maximise their prospects of leaving the former Yugoslav republic with a point or three on the board.

It will be recalled that it was Burley himself around three weeks ago who introduced the notion of departing from the principally cautious policy in away games that had been favoured by his immediate predecessors. He emphasised quite specifically that it was time the Scots enjoyed a more telling contribution from midfield in the matter of skirmishing more forcefully – and more regularly – in the vicinity of the opposition's goal.

He had insisted that he did not wish his side to be known as one who simply "sat in" and tried to snatch goals on the counter-attack. This new sense of adventure, moreover, would be applied to away matches, as well as those at Hampden Park.

What, we wondered, was the manager thinking now, the match less than 24 hours away, and his original squad significantly altered by injury-enforced withdrawals by half-a-dozen players? Has he concluded that there is now a need to modify his earlier conviction, to tinker with a strategy that will, as before, make the Scots difficult to beat, as opposed to irresistible aggressors?

"All credit to Walter Smith and Alex McLeish for the Euro 2008 effort – but it is up to us to prove now that we can be hard to beat and attack teams," said Burley, seemingly at a compromise between previous styles and his own ideal. "We are not going to over-run teams so we must play to our strengths. I hope we will carry a threat at times.

"Every game is different. We have a plan for Macedonia. It is not all about systems – it is about getting the best out of the players and getting good combinations. We've not had much luck in terms of injuries but I'm looking for midfielders to get forward. Possession will be important.

"I've had three games to find out about the players. They have helped but now it is the real game. I've looked at some permutations in the three friendlies we have had and now I have an idea in my mind how we will play against Macedonia."

It was at this point that Burley assumed Braveheart mode, dwelling on the qualities that are surely necessary to win on the battlefield, but which require to be complemented by refinement on the football field.

"I will speak to them about pride and passion and the team structure. We will need strong men here in Macedonia. We need to be very competitive and fight our corner – but it must be controlled aggression. I know there has been criticism of our players for lacking quality, but it is up to us to prove any doubters wrong. We've passionate players. We never give in and we will fight to the death."

In pursuit of his objective, Burley will be without James Morrison, the West Bromwich Albion midfielder having failed to recover from the injury that had raised doubts about his availability as early as the squad's assembly at Loch Lomond on Monday.

But the word from one or two players within the camp on arrival in the Macedonian capital yesterday was that Burley had been rehearsing them in a 4-4-2 formation, as opposed to the 4-1-4-1 or 4-5-1 that had been favoured by McLeish and Smith on these foreign expeditions.

In the absence of the injured Kevin Thomson of Rangers – he had played in the recent friendly with Northern Ireland – and the probable unavailability of Morrison, it seems certain that the midfield quartet will comprise Scott Brown, Paul Hartley, Darren Fletcher and Barry Robson. Resources in defence are so depleted – both possible starting full-backs, Kevin McNaughton and Callum Davidson, having pulled out – that the back four pick themselves.

The veteran Graham Alexander, Gary Caldwell, Stephen McManus and Gary Naysmith will form the line in front of goalkeeper Craig Gordon. It is in attack that there remains some debate. Burley had declared himself disappointed with the James McFadden partnership against Northern Ireland and Shaun Maloney, although bracketed with the midfielders on the squad sheet, has forced himself into contention since joining Celtic.

Managers tend to be conservative by nature, however, and Burley will surely have noted that the 24 goals McFadden and Miller boast between them make them by a distance the most prolific pairing in the squad. It will be a surprise if they are not in from the start.

The heat in Skopje yesterday was as intense as predicted and today will be no different. It should make people as fiery as the Scots perfectly at home. If they can bring a little ice to their play, however, they could yet leave a hard place with a worthwhile reward.