Craig Burley on point

Today Craig Burley, a man who when he speaks I usually find myself thinking of how on earth this guy made it onto television with as much regularity as he seems to, actually spoke some sense.

While he may be related to George Burley, and has represented Scotland many times before I was glad that he came out with some strong criticism of the Scotland players. George Burley has won close to 300 games a manager and has a win percentage comparable with many of the top Premier League managers so he clearly has a strong pedigree and did not just become a bad manager.

True that sometimes some situations just plain and simple do not work out, but as Craig Burley suggests this is one situation where the blame has to be laid at the door of the Scotland players. One player with a phenomenal scoring record refused to represent his country. Two other players got themselves banned for behaviour not in line with what Burley and the SFA consider appropriate conduct. Burley should be credited for standing up and backing his beliefs and convictions through this debacle. So often in football (and professional sports) doing what "is right" is rarely the key driver in any decision (just look at The FA's behavior towards Jack Warner for evidence of this). I am sure that Burley will manage again, and that he will be successful again.

So what's next for Scotland?

Walter Smith seems to be the only logical choice as it seems he will leave Rangers at the end of year (if not sooner) anyway. He has already walked out on the team once, but that certainly should not preclude him for being considered as the first choice option in what we can presume to be a fairly weak candidate pool.