McGregor insists Levein still the man to lead Scots

SCOTLAND goalkeeper Allan McGregor has backed manager Craig Levein’s call for his critics to look beyond his unimpressive first qualifying campaign in charge and accept his assurance that progress is being made.

Levein was unhappy that his poor record of just one win in five competitive matches was highlighted before Tuesday night’s 1-0 defeat of Lithuania at Hampden, which ensured he did not become the first Scotland manager to win only one of his first six.

Including friendly internationals, Levein now has a 50 per cent win percentage rate since his appointment in December 2009 with seven victories from 14 games.

“There is progress,” insisted McGregor. “Some of the boys were talking about it, saying it’s not been a good start statistically. But if you put in the friendlies, it is. I think it’s important to keep him. He has been different class with the boys, he’s very thorough with what he does on the opposition, he has all angles covered. He’s a really, really good manager to have.

“I didn’t see or hear any criticism after we drew with the Czechs on Saturday, so I’m maybe the wrong man to ask. But I did see headlines saying we should stop moaning about the decisions which went against us and just get on with it.

“It’s hard to take, though and, even in five-a-side games, there are things which annoy players. This was a European Championship qualifier and it was an horrific decision for the Czech penalty. So I don’t think you can just say ‘stop whingeing’, because anyone would be the same if it happened to them.

“Obviously, we had chances before the penalty incident to stop the situation happening. We could have done better defensively. But it was just a horrible decision and it’s only natural