Levein aims to make use of every date for friendlies

CRAIG Levein has admitted he failed to do the position of Scotland manager justice with his decision to give up valuable preparation time for the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

After naming his squad for next week’s challenge match against Cyprus in Larnaca, Levein confirmed he will fill every available Fifa friendly date on the calendar ahead of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers which begin next September.

Scotland will play at least four matches before their Group A campaign commences. Following the match in Cyprus, there is a proposed friendly in Slovenia next February and a week-long training camp in Austria at the end of May which will also include a game against yet to be determined opposition.

Scotland will also have a friendly, probably at home, next August.

It is in sharp contrast to Levein’s reluctance to take on such matches during his first year in the job with just two friendlies, against Czech Republic and Sweden, played before the failed European Championship campaign got underway.

“I probably did the job of national team manager a disservice by doing that, although it kept managers at the clubs happy,” reflected Levein.

“It was my naivete in the job, trying to keep too many other people happy rather than doing what is best for the group.

“I didn’t realise how the lack of contact with the players detracts significantly from how easy it is to do the job, if that makes sense. We played a game in March that was already arranged.

“I didn’t take a game in the summer before we played Sweden. So we had two games for me to get to know the players and to work out a way of playing.

“That was all we had before the qualifiers and it wasn’t enough. We are going to have four games this time. The time on the training ground is important as well. It’s contact time for me with the players.

“I can pinpoint certain situations that helped me. The time together with the players at the Carling Nations Cup in May this year, in La Manga before the Brazil game two months earlier and the double headers in the qualifiers. Those have been the biggest contributory factors to our improvement because we were able to spend time on the training ground.

“I’ve said before that I didn’t understand the job at the start and what was important. My first concern was not upsetting managers by taking their players. That was the wrong way to look at it. I’m trying my best to get the balance right, so that the players go back to their clubs in a good frame of mind, rather than not taking them.

“There are only certain dates when you are allowed to play games and I am taking them all now.”