Soccer

Strachan non-commital on future after Scottish victory

Stephen Fletcher scores hat-trick as Scots put six past Gibraltar in final group game

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan with his players after the European Championship qualifying match against Gibraltar at the Estadio Algarve, Faro, Portugal, last night. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.
Scotland manager Gordon Strachan with his players after the European Championship qualifying match against Gibraltar at the Estadio Algarve, Faro, Portugal, last night. Photograph: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.
Sun Oct 11 2015 - 23:32

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan skirted around the issue of whether the thumping 6-0 win over Gibraltar would be his last in charge of the national team.

The Scottish Football Association is thought to be keen for Strachan to remain in the post, but the 58-year-old will take his time before making a decision.

He told Sky Sports 2: “This is a fantastic job and people who know me will know how proud I am to be the Scotland manager. My family are proud of me for being the Scotland manager, but they are great people to work with.

“I was a bit down with not qualifying but it just shows you we have a great spirit in this group that will put us in good stead.

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“We’ll sit down and look at it, see where we’re going, is everybody happy, are my family happy, if I’m happy and I’ll tell you what, it’s a fantastic job.

“Throughout my career I’ve seen some fantastic nights and you wouldn’t think that one of my most memorable nights would be away to Gibraltar.”

Steven Fletcher scored a superb hat-trick, with Chris Martin, Shaun Maloney and Steven Naismith also on target.

On Fletcher, Strachan added: “He’s done well for us without scoring (before this week).

“I don’t mind if he doesn’t score every game but if he brings other people into play and he’s brave the way he is then I’ve not got a problem with that. I think he’s a super player.”

Strachan also reserved praise for the Tartan Army, who turned out in force once again, despite the game being a dead rubber.

“That was a special occasion for the players and myself and the staff,” he added. “I think it was a special thing you’ve seen there because I don’t think any other nation in the world could produce the support like that after failing to qualify.”

Fletcher also paid tribute to the travelling support after a week to remember for the Sunderland frontman.

“It was a great performance on a hard pitch but we had 10,000 fans watching us so we had to put a performance on and I think we did so,” he said.

“We wanted to show them that we’re not down out and we still wanted to go out with a fight even if there was nothing to play for.

“It’s been a nice week on a personal level but obviously I wanted to qualify — that was the main aim, and it’s disappointing, but it was nice to get the match ball.”

ends

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