Burley named Scotland boss
Thursday, 24 Jan 2008 16:12
George Burley is named new Scotland manager
Former Southampton manager George Burley has been named as Alex McLeish's successor to the Scotland job.
The experienced ex-Ipswich Town and
Derby County boss has been chosen as the man to take the Scots into the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, having had his selection ratified by the board of the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
Other potential candidates included Motherwell's Mark McGhee and Celtic's Tommy Burns, while former Rangers boss Graeme Souness was also on the shortlist of potential head coaches.
But the panel in charge of the appointment said Burley was the "outstanding candidate" for the position.
SFA chief executive Gordon Smith said: "The standard of candidate was really high.
"We had four candidates we felt were high class and all capable of being Scotland manager - but George has come through and been successful.
"They all had the assets we were looking for and that was a big factor. But George came out on top because of what he's achieved in the game.
"I know he's very enthusiastic and we all want to do our best for Scotland."
Burley's first match as the new manager will be a friendly against Croatia on March 26th and Smith called on the country to rally behind the new man.
"[Croatia] will be the new manager's first game in charge," he said.
"I know that our supporters will turn out in big numbers to support him and the team as we enter a bright new era for Scottish football."
Burley, 51, will take up the challenge so nearly completed by his predecessor – getting his country into a major tournament for the first time since 1998.
Despite home and away victories over France in a qualifying group which also contained Word Cup winners Italy and quarter-finalists Ukraine, Scotland narrowly failed to reach this summer's European Championships.
Following the failure, former Rangers boss McLeish opted to move south of the border and succeed Steve Bruce as
Birmingham City manager in the Premier League.
Burley joined Southampton in December 2005, and said he would not have wanted to manage anywhere else.
However he said the lure of leading his country's national side had been too strong.
"As a Scotsman you have a vision to do well for your country," he said.
"Now the dream is to qualify for the World Cup in 2010. The country has belief and I'm certainly up for the challenge."
"This job gives the opportunity to try to do something, to try to get to the World Cup finals, and as a manager you couldn't ask for more than that."
Burley added he was "really looking forward" to taking over, adding: "I feel I'm ready for it.
"I've got a contract until 2012. I'm fully committed, my one thought at the moment is the next two and a half years.
He added: "The timing is right, what Scotland have done over the last couple of years has excited everyone."