Scotland

Chris Sutton: 'Gordon Strachan no longer wants Scotland job'

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 11 October 2016

Chris Sutton insists that Scotland players and fans alike are beginning to turn against Gordon Strachan, who he believes has lost interest in the managerial job.

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has claimed that Gordon Strachan has lost interest in the Scotland job and no longer wants to manage his national side.

The 59-year-old came in for criticism on the back of the Tartan Army's 1-1 draw with Lithuania on Saturday evening - a potentially costly result just two games into the World Cup 2018 qualifying campaign.

Scotland were also the only Home Nation to miss out on reaching the European Championship finals during the summer, leading to some strong words from Strachan who opted to stay in his position as manager for this latest campaign.

Sutton believes that fans and the players are beginning to turn against the former Middlesbrough boss, though, telling BBC Sport: "He has been rude, he's been cantankerous and I just feel he doesn't want to be there any more and he is showing that in every interview.

"That's his body language and I think he wants out. I think his comments in the summer were appalling. He said that Scotland were a nation of scared footballers and I think of the impact that would have had on the players at that time - they would have been totally disgruntled by that.

"I think he's losing credibility with the fans. I don't agree that a lot of fans are still on his side. Gordon Strachan said Scotland don't have big stars like Gareth Bale and then the Scottish fans see Iceland, they see Northern Ireland, they see Wales and their performance and think we want a piece of that."

Scotland are back in Group F action this evening as they take on Slovakia in Trnava.