At roughly one win a year, and after being the first coach in my lifetime to lose in Oslo, plus the disgrace in Macedonia, you don’t deserve your job. We deserve better, or at least to try something new. That’s what you do when something isn’t working, and this clearly isn’t.

The question is, why? One of the reasons I liked the appointment of Burley was that he has no close ties to either of the Old Firm sides. After two Rangers men in a row, it was good to see someone who had made their name at different Scottish clubs in the top job. I understand that he doesn’t want to single-handedly decide the SPL by naming a certain squad, but George Burley was not hired to manage the Old Firm … he was hired to manage Scotland. I hope that by “consulting” with Smith and Strachan, he means that he is telling them the players he’ll need, and doing it as nicely as possible. The manager of Scotland’s national side doesn’t have to ask permission from any club, even the mighty Celtic and Rangers, before naming a squad. Name the best squad you can, George. The Old Firm can look after themselves. They both have plenty of talent sitting on the bench if their stars are too tired.

I’m not hugely against a few Englishmen in the dugouts at Hampden. To me, the Auld Enemies bit is a little dry without a Home Championship, and I guess my dislike of all things Three Lions has faded a little. I still revel in the fact that Scotland lies so close to them in the FIFA rankings, and would celebrate to the point of wild inebriation should we ever pass them, but frankly, nationality is the least of my concerns for the coaching staff of Scotland. I want wins. The Tartan Army wants wins. And if Burley thinks he needs a dugout half-full of Englishmen, or Argentinians, or Inuit, to make that happen, that’s fine by me. As long as it works, and the team wins, he will have all the support he needs. If they lose, however, don’t be surprised by some gruff murmurs about The Enemy in our foxhole.

On a side note, news comes out today that Vlad actually fired an assistant coach at Hearts for not signing a statement calling Burley a drunk. Romanov was apparently hoping to use the statement as ammunition against Burley in future negotiations, before the relationship between the two became hopelessly negative. I’ve heard a lot from Vlad that made me cringe, but accusing a man of being a drunk, then asking his assistant to bear false witness against him, is not only criminal, it’s the lowest point yet of the ethical vacuum of the Romanov era. We forgive this sort of thing when it comes along with success. When it results in near relegation for one of the nation’s oldest and most storied clubs? Not so much.

Nice to see the SFA doing something, rather than just talking about making a decision. To be honest, all three of these men are good managers. I would like to see McGhee stay at Motherwell, and think he is the least likely no matter where the bookies rate him, and if its down to Burley vs. Burns, I don’t think we can lose in managing terms. I rate both of them very highly. Burns, as I’ve said, has an edge in his ties to the Old Firm.

Progress. What the SFA promised about having a manager in January seems almost possible, and that is only good news for the Tartan Army.

I am, needless to say, a bit disappointed by both the inclusion of Souness and the exclusion of Kenny Dalglish, but it is nice to see both Burley and Burns as possibilities. Burley became possibly the most effective manager ever sacked when he was let go by Hearts’ insane Sith lord of an owner, Vlad Romanov, with Hearts at the top of the SPL, a rare position for any team not hanging its hat in Glasgow. He has since gone on to Southampton, in the notoriously difficult and unpredictable English Championship. Before coming to Tynecastle, he won the Premier League Manager of the Year award in 2001, the one and only time it has been taken by a manager other than the winner of the league. He’s 51, and McGhee is 50, both of which seem young for a national manager if what you’re trying to avoid is that manager leaving early. In fact, of the four, Souness is the old man at only 54.

To me, it’s a three-man race between Burley, Burns and McGhee. Mark McGhee, though deserving of attention for what he has done at Motherwell, just doesn’t seem ready to me. Part of me also wonders whether he will be able to leave a Motherwell side still reeling from the loss of their captain, Phil O’Donnell, in such tragic circumstances. Personally, I think McGhee should and will stay at Motherwell, and guide them to either a cup or a league European place. In all but his matches with Caley Thistle, I’ll be cheering him on. That leaves Burnsie and Burley. George Burley has more overall experience, and, perhaps most importantly, he left Hearts fans desperately wanting more. He has a reputation as a winner in Scotland, and yet a resume that extends south to the money league, and on paper, he may be the best candidate.

But Tommy Burns has something that Burley does not, and that is history with an Old Firm side. His current employers at Celtic have not been silent about their dislike for two straight Rangers men in the post, and as unfortunate as it is, the SFA are always looking to show balance between the Glasgow sides. In my opinion, and the opinion of a lot of SPL fans who support neither Celtic nor Rangers, the real problem is a lack of balance between the Old Firm and everyone else, but the SFA follows the money, and all the money is in Glasgow.

For all these reasons, I’m going to go ahead and predict that Tommy Burns will be the next manager of Scotland. It may be wishful thinking, as I think he’d do a fine job, and my record of prediction suggests that short of actually killing the man, I have just done the most in my power to keep him from achieving the job. If I’m wrong, as I often am, I will freely admit it and welcome (almost) any of the above four choices with open arms. Even if it is Souness, I will of course continue to love and support the Scotland side, but I can’t stress enough how poor of a decision I believe this would be.

The waiting, it seems, is almost over.

SFA President George Peat had this to say this morning about the matter (as quoted by The Scotsman):

“We are into January now and we want the matter resolved by the end of this month. We will really set the ball in motion in a few days’ time and try to establish a preferred candidate. We don’t want to speak to people in employment unless we’re really going to go for them. That can upset clubs and we don’t want to upset a lot of clubs.”

Peat’s statement makes me think that his preferred target IS a man with a current job. I’ve never rated John Collins as an appropriate candidate, but his lack of employment might just get him an interview. Personally, I’d like to see Dalglish in the job, but we’ll see if that’s in the cards. One of the most important things, to me, is a coach that wants to end their career in this job, or at least leave that open as a possibility. Our last three managers have coached a total of 27 matches between them, and we haven’t had a manager stick around for more than twenty games since Berti Vogts. Let’s get someone in who not only wants the job, and recognizes the offer as a great honor for any Scot, but who is dedicated enough to the side not to go running after the first money bill someone wags in his face.