Burley´s future in the balance after Scotland surrender

George Burley admitted his future as Scotland coach is in the balance after the Tartan Army called for him to resign during the dismal 3-0 friendly defeat against Wales.

Burley’s side slumped to their third successive loss as goals from David Edwards, Simon Church and Aaron Ramsey in the opening 35 minutes sparked a furious response from the travelling fans.

Former Hearts and Ipswich boss Burley had received a vote of confidence from the Scottish FA despite his failure to lead the team to next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

But the abject manner of Saturday’s defeat at the Cardiff City Stadium raised fresh doubts about Burley’s ability to get the job done.

Burley knows SFA chief executive Gordon Smith will come under pressure to sack him and, asked if he would still be in charge for the March friendly against Czech Republic, he said: “Well, that’s up to other people, isn’t it?

“I’m just thinking about this game, it wasn’t good enough, we’ve got to do better and we were beaten too easily.

“As far as positives for this game, I couldn’t pick one out, whereas in the other games we had been going in the right direction. We’ve got to assess it again.

“We started well but we just switched off and, in that spell, we conceded three goals. It’s not an easy one to take.

“As a manager, you are disappointed by a defeat. I’ve got a squad of players that I’m utilising, I’ve got a squad of players out there and we didn’t perform.

“It’s one of those areas where you’ve got to look at it and move on. The first half wasn’t good enough, it was shocking the way we conceded the goals, so that’s something that’s got to be better.”

Burley conceded he couldn’t blame the 4,000 Scotland fans who travelled to south Wales for turning on him after such a poor performance.

“I’m not surprised,” he said. “If you are a manager and your team performs like that, you are going to get stick from the crowd because the performance wasn’t good enough.

“We folded like a pack of cards. It was shocking defending after that, conceding three goals and we never recovered.

“It was a very poor display and we never really got going. We made the six changes but it didn’t really change too much. The first half was terrible and that’s something we can’t afford to let happen.

“It’s not a favourite venue for Scotland. I lost here 3-0 on my debut and the last time we played here it was 4-0. Overall, there is no excuse because that performance wasn’t good enough.”

Burley has now won just three games in 14 attempts and said: “That’s where we are as a country, as a group of players, as a team.

“I can’t go and bring other players into the squad. I’m picking the best squad of players, working together with them and trying to get the best out of them. That’s all I can do as a manager.”

As for his defensive pairing of Stephen McManus and Gary Caldwell – who have also been criticised for their displays with Celtic this season – Burley said: “It’s a team, not (about) picking out individuals.

“Maybe one or two players are finding it hard at club level but, as a team, it wasn’t good enough.

“And it was all the way through. Every department, especially in the first half, didn’t function. That’s something you can’t afford to happen.

“I can’t put my finger on one area because all areas were poor.”