Summary
GEORGE Burley has been fighting emotion all the way down the line since learning of the death of Sir Bobby Robson, who had fulfilled the role of second father to the Scotland manager since he left home for Ipswich at the age of just 15. It would normally have lent him perspective, but there is no let-up ahead of next week's trip to Oslo for a game which sees Burley propelled back into the public eye. Robson is gone, and with him the advice sought by Burley as recently as the difficult moments prior to Scotland's last outing, against Iceland.
You can forgive Burley some uneasiness in these trying times. Earlier this week, as he made a noble attempt to talk up Scotland's prospects against Norway despite having just named a squad missing four of the 11 who started the win over Iceland, Burley referred to goalkeeper David Marshall as 'Gordon'. Given that the Marshalls share both occupation and surname, it was an understandable and unremarkable error, and a tribute, perhaps, to Robson, whose own managerial career was littered with such endearing slips of the tongue.See the full content of this document
Extract
Hurly Burly Is All Part of the Job for Scotland Manager
But it was also possible to link the mistake to the pressure bearing down on Burley as he prepares for an unusually intense period of three matches in less than a month. Since Scotland's World Cup fate rests on these games, it follows that his reputation, certainly in his native land, must also hang on the trio of fixtures.
"I suppose I have been lucky over my 15-16 years in England, as I always got on pretty well with the media,"...See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
