GEORGE Burley may prove to be an acquired taste as far as Scotland supporters are concerned, but the new manager made almost as favourable a first impression as he could have hoped for at Hampden last night.
On an evening of constant downpour from the heavens, Burley shrugged aside the call-offs which overshadowed the build-up to his opening game, and sent out a team who produced enough periods of bright and inventive football to suggest he can build on
the progress achieved by the international team in recent years.
A 1-1 draw with Croatia is a more than acceptable result in anyone's reckoning and with a little more luck, Scotland might even have snatched a win against their Euro 2008-bound opponents.
Burley is the third former Ipswich Town manager to go on to take charge of his country. From an aesthetic viewpoint at least, he is very much in the mould of his mentor Sir Bobby Robson rather than the first man to follow that career progression, the late Sir Alf Ramsey.
Yet as Ramsey's 'wingless wonders' proved for England in the summer of 1966, pragmatism is more often than not the cornerstone of success. Burley, though, is a devoted disciple of Robson's more expansive footballing gospel and those Scotland supporters who place a premium on entertainment value will be encouraged by his determination to stick to those principles.
A man who played 500 games under Robson in an era when Ipswich produced a series of teams who were a delight to behold, boasting the flair and attacking instincts of players such as Trevor Whymark, Clive Woods, Eric Gates, John Wark, Paul Mariner, Arnold Muhren, Frans Thijssen and Alan Brazil will inevitably seek to instil that spirit of enterprise in any side under his command.
When the first teamsheet of the Burley era was printed last night, it revealed a line-up he intended to deploy in a 4-3-3 formation with Shaun Maloney and debutant Steven Fletcher on either side of central striker Kenny Miller.
In practice, it wasn't radically different from the 4-5-1 which Walter Smith used to revive the national team three years ago. When the technically proficient Croatians had the ball, the Hibs striker and Maloney had little option but to shuttle back and provide reinforcements for the central midfield trio of Darren Fletcher, Paul Hartley and Scott Brown.
Against opponents more naturally at ease in possession, it was always going to be an exacting shift for Burley's men on the sodden Hampden turf but he could only be gratified at the level of application his men provided.
There has been no mistaking the sincere enthusiasm and passion Burley has for the job, ever since he was appointed two months ago, and it was clearly a special moment for this son of Ayrshire when the anthems were played before kick-off. O' Flower of Scotland was performed by Kevin McDermott with the Scottish singer appearing almost as incongruous in his white suit and dark glasses as former England captain Terry Butcher did by Burley's side.
As Burley sang every word, his eyes glinting with pride, a smile played on Butcher's lips as he stood tall and stared straight ahead savouring a remarkable moment in his career he could never have imagined.
Barely three minutes had elapsed when Butcher was dispatched to the edge of the technical area to relay some instructions. Elements of Scotland's shape were clearly not as the new management team wanted and the third man of the operation, Steven Pressley, soon followed with a clipboard.
The message being relayed could not prevent Scotland conceding their first goal of Burley's reign after just ten minutes as they committed the basic error of losing concentration at an opposition throw-in, Niko Kranjcar taking advantage of the defensive sloppiness to bamboozle Craig Gordon from 20 yards.
Burley eventually decided he needed to be a more visible presence as, hands in pockets, he emerged to patrol the touchline. At first, he betrayed little emotion but gradually became more animated, clapping and pointing as Scotland enjoyed their first signs of promise and forced a series of corners.
He remained an agitated figure, however, urging his players for greater movement off the ball, until they equalised on the half-hour mark. Steven Fletcher rewarded Burley's faith in him with a terrific through ball which sent Miller racing clear of Robert Kovac to drill home his 11th goal for Scotland with the aid of a deflection off Josip Simunic's boot.
The manager, still standing on the border of the technical area, turned away and punched the air twice with both fists, his expression a combination of satisfaction and relief.
Burley continued to exhort his players to display forward initiative whenever possible, applauding vigorously even when an ambitious through ball from captain Stephen McManus ran far too long for Miller.
This is a manager who will never discourage his team from taking an attacking risk and he was almost rewarded with the maiden win he craved five minutes from time when Alan Hutton's lung-bursting charge from right-back set up a shooting opportunity for substitute Kris Boyd who was denied by Stipe Pletikosa's fine save.
The full article contains 878 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
