There are only so many lifelines a manager can have in today’s game and it is now looking increasingly likely that Scotland boss Craig Levein is on the brink of losing his job. The Tartan Army are currently rooted to the bottom of Group A having taken just two points from their opening four World Cup 2014 qualification matches. Scotland’s chances of qualifying to the World Cup are now looking extremely thin following two recent defeats to Wales and Belgium, which leaves them eight points behind the top two. As a result Bet365 have handed Scotland long odds of 40/1 to progress through to the Finals in Brazil.
Levein is now under overwhelming pressure but to his credit he is determined to fight and remain in charge. However, his record doesn’t shine him in a good light at all, with Scotland winning just three of his 12 games at the helm, and considering two of those victories came against Liechtenstein, it is definitely nothing to be proud of.
Scotland were never expected to come away from Belgium with the win but then who could have possibly predicted the heroic performance of Northern Ireland in holding giants Portugal to a 1-1 draw in Porto, or Sweden miraculously recovering from a four goal deficit to incredibly draw 4-4 away to Germany.
Both the media and the majority of fans have now lost faith with talk now turning to possible replacements. Gordon Strachan is currently the hot favourite in the Next Scotland Manager Betting market. The former Celtic manager has been out of work since leaving Middlesbrough in October 2010 but is believed to be a popular choice among supporters and it is now looking increasingly likely that he could be appointed before Scotland's next qualifier at home to Wales in March. Other contenders include Joe Jordan, Alex McLeish, Owen Coyle and Walter Smith.
