Scots sack Burley

George Burley’s 22-month reign as Scotland manager came to an end Monday when the Scottish Football Association (SFA) terminated his contract with immediate effect.

Burley’s assistants, Terry Butcher and Paul Hegarty, were also released, 48 hours after Scotland succumbed to a 3-0 friendly defeat by Wales.

The SFA had decided against dismissing Burley last month following a review of the national squad’s failure to reach the World Cup qualifying play-offs.

But Saturday’s humiliation in Cardiff proved to be the last straw for SFA chief executive Gordon Smith.

“It is with regret that we announce George Burley?s departure,” Smith said. “We now have four months until our next scheduled match, against Czech Republic, and will therefore utilise the intervening period to ensure we attract the best possible replacement to take Scotland forward.”

Smith said the decision had been taken unanimously by the SFA’s board.

“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. 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.

“Unfortunately, the adverse results in the two subsequent friendly matches against Japan and Wales provided confirmation that the improvement could not be sustained.”

Burley’s fate was effectively sealed when the ‘Tartan Army’ of travelling fans — who had largely remained loyal to the manager — reacted furiously to an abject display against the Welsh.

Burley succeeded Alex McLeish as manager of the national team in January 2008. Under his leadership, Scotland won three out of 14 matches and scored in only three of their last 12 matches.

His supporters will claim that the results simply reflect the limited quality of the players at his disposal.

“You could have Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson managing that group of players, but the outcome wouldn’t be much different,” said Graeme Souness, who had indicated interest in the job when Burley got it but has ruled himself out the running to succeed him.

His critics however can argue that essentially the same group of players did significantly better under McLeish and his predecessor, Walter Smith, running France and Italy close in qualifying for Euro 2008.

The SFA could now attempt to persuade Rangers boss Smith — whose current contract at Ibrox expires in January — to return to the role.

Dundee United’s Craig Levein is also seen as a potential candidate to take over from Burley before the start of Euro 2012 qualifiers in August or September.

Souness, the former Newcastle, Blackburn and Liverpool manager, said Monday he was not interested in managing his country.

“I wouldn’t want the job,” Souness said. “It’s not for me at this time, my life is going in a different direction.”