Football: Burley is playing for keeps

Published on Thursday 26 March 2009 08:58

THE DECISION over who should occupy Scotland's goal in the Amsterdam ArenA was monumental for George Burley. The battle of the Edinburgh-reared goalkeepers, Allan McGregor and Craig Gordon, has been won by McGregor this time due to the latter's inactivity at club level. And, if the Rangers goalkeeper is keen to stand up and be counted against Holland, so too will his manager stand or fall by the selection.

Not that McGregor could be considered unreliable. Far from it. His form was instrumental in Rangers' progress to last season's UEFA Cup final and, after an uncertain start to the current campaign, is now considered an established member of the Scotland squad. Yet he has just three caps to his name and has never appeared in a competitive international.

Gordon, by contrast, has represented his country 35 times and harbours a wealth of experience at international level despite his relatively tender age of 26.

For close on four years he has provided a steadfast last line of defence and been the regular goalkeeper under a succession of international coaches including Berti Vogts, Walter Smith, Alex McLeish and now Burley. It takes a brave man to demote someone with such credentials.

That's precisely what Burley is proving himself to be. He has never been afraid to make major, potentially pivotal, decisions but there will scarcely have been a bigger one than this. Particularly in the context of a World Cup qualifying match that will see Scotland employ an untried central defensive pairing due to injuries. A new goalkeeper behind them might be the proverbial bridge too far.

Burley maintains his decision was simple because Gordon is now second choice at Sunderland to the Hungarian Marton Fulop. He has played just one top-level match since last November – Sunderland's 2-1 FA Cup fourth round replay defeat at Blackburn.

"For me, once all the club games were finished, it was a straightforward decision," said Burley. "You know what I think about Craig. He's been magnificent ever since I've known him, with Hearts and Scotland. Allan's come in, did very well against Argentina and got a lot of experience of European football with Rangers last season including the UEFA Cup final. With goalkeepers, one mistake means a goal and the decision was made simply because Craig hasn't played.

"There has been so much speculation. Everybody's been talking about it, the pros, the cons and everything about it. I just think it was fairer for the goalkeepers to announce it early. I spoke to them on Tuesday, Craig took it well and understood. Now Allan can be focused without people speculating all the time. I had to make the decision, which I did, so everybody knows he's the man who will be in goals. There is nothing else to talk about now.

"Last season I thought Allan was magnificent. Of all the games I saw, I can't think of him making any mistakes. Maybe at the start of the season he did but he's bounced back from that and been in outstanding form of late. I'm pleased he got some experience against Argentina, where he was faultless. He's got that experience under his belt and I've said for the last six months that I have two top-class international keepers.

"Allan is very pleased, of course. He wanted to be in the team but Craig Gordon has never put a foot wrong for Scotland." Burley also acknowledged that his Dutch counterpart, Bert van Marwijk, has his own goalkeeping dilemma after failing to lure Manchester United's Edwin van der Sar out of retirement.

His three regular goalkeepers, Maarten Stekelenburg, Henk Timmer and Michel Vorm are all sick or recovering from injury. "I think they have a problem with their goalkeeper," said Burley. "We all know they wanted to get Van der Sar back. Their back four is fairly settled, all of them are comfortable, strong and quick. In this type of game we have to stop them playing."

With David Weir and Kirk Broadfoot already withdrawn and Steven McManus extremely doubtful, Gary Caldwell and Christophe Berra are poised to deputise in central defence. However, Burley is placing most emphasis on midfield, where he wants Scott Brown, Barry Ferguson and Darren Fletcher to curb the threat of Wesley Sneijder and Co. Kris Commons is another withdrawal, while Paul Hartley will miss the Holland match with a hamstring strain but may return against Iceland next Wednesday.

"Holland are one of the top six teams in the world and individually they are magnificent," said Burley. "I've always been a big fan of the Dutch football philosophy because I was brought up with (Arnold] Muhren and (Frans] Thijssen at Ipswich. The club always had a Dutch connection and when I was manager I brought in Dutch players. From an early age they are taught to control and pass the ball.

"They play through the midfield area all the time so that area is very important. The Iceland game will be totally different to Holland. The game in Amsterdam will mostly be played in our half, we'll have to be strong, compete and win individual battles. Once we stop them playing, then we can play ourselves.

"When you look at Scott Brown, Fletcher and Ferguson, our midfield is outstanding. They all have energy, they are all comfortable on the ball, they can all get forward. I've never had these three all playing together."

Asked if Brown would play a holding role, Burley replied: "He can do, yes. He might be holding but he might pop up in the box and score a goal as well. With Scotty you've got to hold him back all the time but, if you watched the Norway game, who was the best player on the park? Scotty Brown. He was the same against Iceland away. He can play a number of positions, as can Fletcher and Ferguson."

Burley does not expect Alan Hutton to play in Amsterdam, the Tottenham full-back continuing to hone his fitness after four months out with a foot injury. "You could say Alan's a gamble," he explained. "He did very well for 72 minutes (in a Tottenham reserve game] at West Brom on Monday. Brian Ewing, our fitness coach, has been doing extra with him.

"I'm not looking to get him involved in the game over in Amsterdam but I have an open view about next Wednesday. There's no doubt a fit, motivated Alan Hutton would get in most international sides. That's why we have to look at his fitness and decide if he's ready to step in on Wednesday.

"Who knows how the call-offs will affect us. I can't think about it like that or say we were unlucky because of injuries. I've got to look at our squad and say: 'We have competition, we have good players and we're going to give it our best shot.'"

"We named a squad of 26. You expect some call-offs. You don't know how many, you hope there's none but you take it from there. You become immune to it because it's going to happen. You look at the squad, develop it and train with what's available. There's no good worrying or being negative."