Interview: George Burley - Hurly burly is all part of the job for Scotland manager

Published on Friday 7 August 2009 22:35

GEORGE Burley has been fighting emotion all the way down the line since learning of the death of Sir Bobby Robson, who had fulfilled the role of second father to the Scotland manager since he left home for Ipswich at the age of just 15.

It would normally have lent him perspective, but there is no let-up ahead of next week's trip to Oslo for a game which sees Burley propelled back into the public eye. Robson is gone, and with him the advice sought by Burley as recently as the difficult moments prior to Scotland's last outing, against Iceland.

You can forgive Burley some uneasiness in these trying times. Earlier this week, as he made a noble attempt to talk up Scotland's prospects against Norway despite having just named a squad missing four of the 11 who started the win over Iceland, Burley referred to goalkeeper David Marshall as 'Gordon'. Given that the Marshalls share both occupation and surname, it was an understandable and unremarkable error, and a tribute, perhaps, to Robson, whose own managerial career was littered with such endearing slips of the tongue.

But it was also possible to link the mistake to the pressure bearing down on Burley as he prepares for an unusually intense period of three matches in less than a month. Since Scotland's World Cup fate rests on these games, it follows that his reputation, certainly in his native land, must also hang on the trio of fixtures.

"I suppose I have been lucky over my 15-16 years in England, as I always got on pretty well with the media," Burley says. "There's been a few things here… Before the Macedonia game (at the start of the campaign] there were a few things I was not very happy about. But you have to keep the focus. My focus has always been to get to South Africa. If you are not winning games and expectation is very high, then you get criticised. Especially when you are the national manager, and especially in Scotland.

"It's such a small nation, but there are so many newspapers and columns," he continues. "You get things written by people which you don't agree with, people who have never been managers and never been footballers. You try not to read them, especially during international weeks. The most important thing is you don't get upset about it. You have to have a clear outlook, no matter what."

Burley's own father is still very much alive at the age of 85, and is active enough to manage 18 holes of golf with his son. It is his family, including three grown-up children, who help Burley cope with the pressure of being, in certain periods of the year, Scotland's highest-profile citizen. As he prepares to adopt this role again, he reflects: "When Glenn Hoddle was England manager, he once described the experience as being like a volcano: it starts very quietly, then gradually gets bigger, then erupts, and slowly gets back to normal again. That's something you have to deal with. It's part and parcel of having the national job."

The strain is unavoidable, while the media scrutiny also comes with the territory. Robson had it far worse than Burley in his early days as manager of England; Hoddle, too. But where Burley deserves sympathy is for the way he was cast into the storm at the end of March, when Barry Ferguson, his captain, and Allan McGregor, who had just been handed a competitive international debut in goal against the Netherlands, chose to forget both these salient details while embarking on a marathon drinking session at the team's HQ by Loch Lomond.

They disrespected the manager again when throwing hand gestures while sitting on the bench against Iceland on the following Wednesday. Burley's priority before this unwanted deflection had been to emerge with at least three points from the double-header. This Scotland managed to achieve, despite – or perhaps even because of – the front page headlines. Burley is defiant. He felt aggrieved at the meagre amount of praise meted out to himself and the players, particularly given the context. One of Scotland's youngest ever teams had clinched a must-needed win on a nervous night which had begun with the unprecedented jeering of the Scottish captain's name as it was read out across the Tannoy. No matter Iceland's current lowly Fifa ranking, it hadn't been easy.

"There was a satisfaction (on my part], but, to be fair, I got no credit for it at all," says Burley. "I had a lot of tough decisions to make, specifically to play (Craig] Gordon and (Alan] Hutton. Then there was the young players up front. The formation. And also the subs. There were a lot of tough decisions to make. What I did do was pick what I thought was my best team. I forgot about the rest. We had to do that, and then deal with things. That's what I did. I have no regrets about it.

"I didn't think we got fair credit for the Iceland game," he continues, warming to the theme. "There were a lot of tough things happened before it. But I thought it was very positive as far as all the young players go and the three points. It gives us something to build on. I had to make a lot of tough positions on the day. How did I pick the team? I just picked my best 18. I figured it was the best thing to do for the country. And now, with three games left, there is all to play for."

It is clear Burley feels justified in his actions following the victory over Iceland, with Ferguson and McGregor relegated to the bench rather than sent home completely. They won't, however, be selected by Burley again, and he is evasive when asked whether he sends his best wishes to Ferguson ahead of his new career back in the English Premier League with Birmingham City. "He has been a great servant for Rangers and Scotland, and I am sure he will do well for Birmingham," he says.

Burley admits to contacting Robson between the Iceland and Holland matches, as his old mentor's lifeline began to finally fade away. But he insists Robson had no input on whether to axe Ferguson and McGregor immediately, or let them remain with the squad.

"Even then if you spoke about football to him it was incredible – he was so passionate," recalls Burley. "The odd time I have phoned him up. I phoned him up before the Holland game and the Iceland game. But, as a manager, every circumstance is different. You have to make your own decision. Sometimes when you are looking in from the outside you can't make those same calls. As a manager you have to make your own decision. You fall or die by them, really. You can listen to people, but as a manager you make vital decisions all the time. That's part of the job. You have to believe in what you do."

Between the squalls there are moments of calm. Burley has learned to embrace the quieter periods, although he does not need to point out that just because Scotland are inactive, it does not mean to say he is. Games still need to be watched, often as many as four in a week. But he rhapsodies about Edinburgh, where he and wife Jill settled on his return to Scotland last year. Edinburgh's south-side, and what he estimates is his 16th home, is a long way from Cumnock.

"I left Cumnock and went down (to England] at 15," he says. "I didn't think I would come back to Scotland. I never dreamt of it. But it happens. We had a spell when we lived in Ayrshire again, when I was a player at Motherwell and then manager at Ayr. We lived in Cumnock for a small period, then Prestwick. The kids enjoyed it. When I was at Southampton we lived in Fulham and I commuted backwards and forwards. Then, when I got the Scotland job, we rented out the place in Fulham and bought in Edinburgh."

Providing the incentive to head east rather than west was their daughter, 23-year-old Lisa. She works in an Edinburgh hotel, and is engaged to Hibernian skipper Chris Hogg. They are due to marry next year. Andrew, 29, lives in Fulham, and is an accountant. Stewart, the middle child, works for Sky Sports, and understands as much as anyone the media pressure his father operates under. The Braid Hills behind his home offer Burley an escape, while his two dogs, Rosie and Harry, provide an excuse to explore them daily.

"We love Edinburgh," he says. "It's like where we were in Fulham. We had parks behind us and were able to walk into shops and cafs or walk into the centre of London, which took us about 25 minutes. It's the same in Edinburgh. We have been in Edinburgh a year now. My Mum and Dad are still in Ayrshire, but I don't think my daughter would have let us live anywhere else."

He was not at Hearts long enough to put down roots in the capital, lasting just ten league games in 2005. That the side were top of the Premier League at the time he departed meant it was one of the Scottish football stories of the decade. Burley was hot property again, four years after being made manager of the year in England after guiding Ipswich to fifth place in the Premiership.

"The timing was right for me to come to this job," Burley says. "It might not have been right for me four years ago. It was an honour. My target from day one was to qualify for a major tournament – nothing has changed. There is all to play for. We are favourites to take second position. We have to take advantage of that and get the right result over the next three games.

"You look at one or two games – Macedonia away and Norway at home, both of which could have gone either way. Holland was always going to be tough, and we have had a couple of good wins against Iceland. You always want more. The fans want more. I want more. But what we have is what we have. We are in second position. If someone said before the campaign we would finish second, then I would have taken it. I would liked to have had a few more points, but to finish above Norway, Macedonia and Iceland – I think everyone would have taken second position."