The SFA look set to announce the appointment of former Scottish international Gordon Strachan as the new national manager.

It seems to be the logical choice and out of all those available for the post, Strachan would have been my first choice too. He is Scottish, he knows what it is like to represent Scotland and more importantly his managerial credentials hold up.

For me its important that an international manager has managed a big club, like Strachan has with Celtic. That means he knows how to win, deal with the stresses of the job and has experience both as a player and as a manager that will impress the current pool of players.

I think this was a problem for Craig Levein and George Burley. They might have got on with the players but I don’t think they had the authority to influence the stars when they needed too.

At 55, Gordon has decent experience behind him and is going into the job at a good age. I think 50 and over is an age I’d look at when going for an international coach especially for a smaller nation like Scotland. With Owen Coyle and Billy Davies being in their 40s I believe both need more time in club management and at bigger clubs before being considered for the Scotland job.

I like the fact Gordon Strachan is his own man and will do things his way and not the way of the SFA. Again I think both Burley and Levein were ‘yes men’ when it came to certain decisions. Strachan like Walter Smith before him, will come in and want everything done properly. He will demand to get the best out of his players and it will be his way or no way for the footballers.

The experience Strachan has had in the English Premiership, at Celtic and in the Champions League are vital qualities for me. I think Scotland shouldn’t look beyond a manager that has had a decent amount of European experience in their CV. If that means that we look beyond our shores for a new boss then so be it.

Having a good backroom team in their with him is important too and it would be good having a young coach like Gary McAllister there too help create a bond between the players and the management team.

I’m not to bothered by the failure Strachan had at Middlesborough. I think learning from our failures is an important part in any job. I also think that having an appetite to bounce back from failure can be an important factor here.

Coming into the job at this moment might look gloomy for a new gaffer. After four games Scotland find themselves bottom of group A. The dream of qualifying for Brazil 2014 seems to be over already.

But in fairness it means Strachan can come in and put his own stamp on the team from day one. He will want to see the side become more creative and more importantly he will want to build a strong defence and have a mentality to go out and not lose.

I am also sure he will expect more from the squad at Hampden. Our home stadium used to be a fortress, the opposition would leave the park with the Tartan Army’s songs and shouts ringing in their ears. This has to return and it will only happen if the fans get a team on the park that they can get excited about.

So at this stage it looks like the SFA have finally made the right choice, although they should have made it back in the summer not now when we as a nation are at rock bottom.

Hopefully the only way is up for Scotland and we can at least finish this qualifying campaign with a bang and not a whimper and at least give ourselves a chance of getting to France for the Euros in 2016!

Posted on January 15th, 2013 by scott
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