After their near miss in World Cup 2018 qualification, Scotland are on the lookout for a new manager after Gordon Strachan walked away from the post. That was an expected reaction after his tenure in charge failed to get the country to the finals of a major tournament. The Scots played out a 2-2 draw in Slovenia in their final World Cup 2018 qualification match and that was a game that they had to win.
So the SFA is not going to renew Strachan’s contract and he has left with immediate effect. The early front runners in next Scotland Manager betting are Malky Mackay and David Moyes. They are easy names to throw out there and for Mackay, he is already familiar with the SFA because he works a performance director for them. So both parties know each other well.
He hasn’t been in a managerial capacity since alleged racist and sexist tests sent during his time as Cardiff manager which forced him into an acrimonious departure with the Welsh club. The FA investigated but no action was taken. Mackay was an early 6/1 option but was backed all the way into around 4/1 on Thursday to get the job.
It is former Everton boss David Moyes who is currently running as the even money favourite for the job. His stock was very high during his career at Everton, but that has tumbled and tumbled because of disappointing spells with Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland. William Hill remained less optimisic about the chances of Moyes getting the job as they left him dangling out at a bigger price of 3/1. Moyes and Mackay are the early front runners and are not that appealing.
Former England boss Sam Allardyce’s name has been touted around and he is around the 8/1 mark and has had a considerable price chop. He had been backed around 20/1 in the market by punters, but is now down at 6/1 and so bookmakers would take a big hit if he was to get appointed. The other two names in the mix who have been trading well since the announcement of Strachan desperate are Paul Lambert and Alex McLeish. The markets are still pretty split around different bookmakers.
Lambert has taken strong backing and has almost halved in price at some bookmakers in next Scotland betting to around a 7/2 price. He is available at the moment after leaving Wolves this year. Former Rangers and Birmingham boss Alex McLeish (who had a prior short stint as Scotland boss) has come in to around a 6/1 price as well from having been out at 12/1. Both would be popular figures to come in and take charge of the national side.
SFA chief executive Stewart Regan said following a board meeting on Thursday: “On behalf of the board I would like to thank Gordon for his excellent service to the national team. I know how disappointed he was that we couldn’t secure a play-off place but to come so close was a tribute to the belief he instilled in his squad.
“After almost five years the Board felt it was time for a new direction to prepare for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying campaign and also the forthcoming UEFA Nations League.
A new manager for Scotland will be in place before the start of the UEFA Nations League campaign which starts next year. The last time Scotland was in a major finals week back at the 1998 World Cup and Strachan, who took charge in January 2013 couldn’t snap that streak for the Scots.
