Inevitable end comes for Scotland boss George Burley

Published on Monday 16 November 2009 21:55

THE inevitable occurred last night when George Burley's tenure as Scotland manager was terminated. He was just 22 months into a four-year contract.

Burley's lawyer has still to agree a compensation deal with the Scottish Football Association but his departure was confirmed just before 6pm, following an emergency board meeting. The decision to sack Burley was described as "unanimous".

Burley's assistants, Terry Butcher and Paul Hegarty, will also leave. The latter only took up the post of assistant coach at the end of September. George Peat, the SFA president, said "the decision had not been taken lightly".

Burley has paid the price for a run of just three victories in 14 matches. He survived the failure to reach the World Cup finals next summer but has been removed following two further friendly defeats. A 2-0 loss in Japan could be explained away due to ten call-offs from the original squad, but the 3-0 defeat to an under-strength Welsh side on Saturday proved to be the final straw. The 4,000-strong band of visiting supporters viciously turned on the manager after Scotland lost three first-half goals in Cardiff.

Poll: Who should replace Burley?

Gordon Smith, the SFA chief executive, yesterday claimed that the decision was not directly linked to this result. He also insisted the SFA was right to stand by Burley in September, following the failure to reach even the play-off stage for next summer's World Cup finals.

"The decision was taken after a meeting with the board of directors and, subsequently, the national coach," he said. "The board was in unanimous agreement. It should be stressed that the decision was not a direct consequence of Saturday's unacceptable 3-0 defeat to Wales but, rather, a realisation that the expectations of the supporters, the Scottish FA and George, himself, were not being met.

"I should point out that the Scottish FA stands by its decision to give the national coach our full support despite failure to qualify for the World Cup play-offs," he added. "It would have been negligent not to have given George every opportunity to rebuild and revitalise the squad in light of the improved performances in the last two qualifiers against Macedonia and Holland."

Burley was handed the target of a play-off place at least on his appointment as manager in January last year. Scotland could only finish third in the only five-team qualifying group. However, he survived a review of his performance. "This is not the time for change, it is a time to invest faith in the manager and the players," said Smith, just a week after a 1-0 defeat to the Netherlands had ended Scotland's faint hopes of qualification.

Improved performances in both this and the previous fixture against FYR Macedonia saw Burley handed a second chance by the SFA, who noted his passion and commitment to the job. Less than two months later, Burley is gone.

"I would like to take the opportunity to express my thanks to my backroom team, the Scottish FA, the players and the Tartan Army for the support they have shown throughout my tenure as national coach and I wish the national team success for the future," said Burley in a statement last night.

Peat stressed how difficult the decision had been to end Burley's tenure. It had been the unanimous decision of the four-man interview panel, made up of Smith, Peat, Alan McRae and Campbell Ogilvie, to appoint Burley.

The SFA now begins the search for a sixth manager in a decade. Dundee United's Craig Levein and the Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies were immediately installed among the favourites to take over, alongside Walter Smith, the Rangers manager, and the currently jobless Jimmy Calderwood. Graeme Souness, who made the short-list before Burley's appointment, has ruled himself out of the running. Mark McGhee, now with Aberdeen, and the late Tommy Burns were the other unsuccessful candidates last time around.

"We now have four months until our next scheduled match, against the Czech Republic, and will therefore utilise the intervening period to ensure we attract the best possible replacement to take Scotland forward," said Smith.

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