SCOTT Brown, who last night described Gordon Strachan’s departure as Scotland manager as “sad”, appears set to retire from international football for the second time in little over a year.
The SFA announced yesterday that they had agreed with Strachan that the national team will be led by a new head coach in their Euro 2020 qualifying.
The 60-year-old’s side were pipped to a Russia 2018 play-off spot on goal difference by Slovakia when they drew 2-2 with Slovenia in Ljubljana on Sunday.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers: Now is the perfect time to shine a torch on Scottish football and I'm happy to help
Brown, who came out of international retirement to play against England at Wembley last November, took to the social media website Instagram to express his disappointment at the turn of events.
He wrote: “Sad, sad, sad. We all had faith in Gordon and believed in making the Euros. 14 points out of 18 in 2017. Momentum on our side.”
Strachan has been a mentor to the midfielder, who missed the final Russia 2018 double head-er due to injury, since signing him for Celtic back in 2007.
It remains to be seen if the 55-times capped player will make himself available for selection when the Euro 2020 campaign gets underway in March 2019 when he will almost be 34.
Brown has enjoyed improved form since taking a break from the game last summer and Brendan Rodgers, his club manager, has stressed to him that he needs to put himself first in order to prolong his career.
“Scott only wants what’s best for Scotland but he also has to have a look out for himself,” he said earlier this year. “He’s at that stage now where he has to look after himself. I’m sure he’ll make the decision in time.”
In a statement on the SFA website, Strachan thanked the players who he had worked with during his four and a half years in charge of his country.
“I said on my first day as Scotland manager that it was the proudest moment of my career and that I wanted to put a smile back on the nation’s face again,” he said. “I share the profound disappointment at missing out on the play-offs, especially having worked so hard to fight our way back into contention.
“The players should receive immense credit for that resilience in coming back from a difficult start and I would like to thank each and every player who has come in to represent their country. Together we have shared some really magical moments and those memories will live with me for ever.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers: Now is the perfect time to shine a torch on Scottish football and I'm happy to help
“Of course, what made those moments special was the unwavering support of our fans. Through highs and lows you have stayed with the team and my biggest regret is not being able to provide the finals tournament you deserve.
“I would like to thank the Board, the backroom staff and everyone at the Scottish FA for the help and support they have given me as national coach. It has been a real privilege.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel