Gordon Strachan refused to discuss his future as Scotland’s manager after the 3-0 reverse at Wembley which all but confirmed the country’s absence from major tournaments will stretch to 20 years. The likelihood is that Strachan’s tenure will now come to an end.
In offering sentiment which was identical to last month, when Scotland were defeated by the same scoreline in Slovakia, Strachan insisted his focus was not with himself. Scotland’s manager claimed the margin of England’s victory was not a reflection of the 90 minutes. All logic now suggests Strachan will not be in charge when Slovenia visit Hampden Park next March, probably of his own volition.
“I’ll have a wee look at it now, go away and have a debrief,” Strachan said. “At this time it’s hard to take in anything. It’s not the time to think about it [his own position]. I do feel for that group in there. That wasn’t fair. There are games where sometimes it’s not fair and that wasn’t fair.
“If you think I’m thinking about myself at this moment, then you don’t know me. Sitting here and worrying about myself? You’re wrong. Completely wrong. All these guys travelled down here, their families travelled down here. When will I think about me? Probably when I’m just about to die. I’ll say: ‘Yeah, how did I get on, Gordon? That was a good life.’ It’s nothing to do with me. I have to think about everyone in that dressing room and how I send them back to their clubs not down. They gave it their best shot.”
Strachan labelled missed Scotland chances by James Forrest and Robert Snodgrass at the start of the second half, with England 1-0 ahead, as “huge”. He added: “You just need a wee break now and then or a wee bit of magic to finish off. I am down for the lads but proud about what they tried to do. The game was cruel to the players and in life, if you put that work in, somewhere along the line the game has got to be good to you.
“There are points where the top teams seem to punish us. We have to work on one or two things but I’ve got to say I don’t know if we can work any harder. I feel really proud at the way they played, the way they went about their job. They had no fear about the way they went about their game. At the same time I feel really hurt that they had to go through that last 15 minutes after putting in so much and believing in what we were trying to do.”
