SFA give Brown vote of confidence
Friday, 7 September 2001 19:39The Scottish Football Association today backed under-fire manager Craig Brown to continue on as Scottish coach until the end of his current contract. Brown has come under increasing pressure to resign following two recent results that all but ended Scotland's dreams of reaching the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and Korea next summer. However, despite the disappointment of those results, the SFA have given their manager a vote of confidence and have said they are willing to hold talks with Brown over his future once his current agreement runs out at the end of the year.
Brown has dismissed media speculation over his immediate plans in light of Scotland's results against Croatia and Belgium in the past week and has vowed he will continue in his job until the end of December. It now seems certain he will continue in the role after the SFA's comments today.
"Craig Brown has been the most successful manager Scotland has ever had, with more matches in charge and more victories than any of his predecessors," explained SFA chief executive David Taylor. "His current contract as international team manager expires at the end of this year, so discussions with Craig about what happens thereafter are already planned. However, these discussions will necessarily be confidential and no public comment will be made about their progress until the matter is fully resolved," he added.
Meanwhile, Hibernian manager Alex McLeish today ruled himself out of the running to succeed Craig Brown as Scotland coach if he steps down in December. When asked whether or not he would be interested in the position should a vacancy arise in the near future, McLeish told Sky Sports that he was not. "At the moment I'm very happy in club football and I've got a lot more to achieve in club football with Hibs," he explained. "There has been some speculation and some ex-colleagues have mentioned my name and it is all very flattering. But, at this moment in time, I don't think the job is for me."
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
