Vogts carries on regardless

Scotland manager Berti Vogts today insisted he held no fears he was about to be sacked.

But he warned the Tartan Army it might still be six years before his team matured enough to make an impact in a major tournament.

Calls for Vogts to be fired from sections of both the media and the Tartan Army were not long in arriving following last week’s 3-0 friendly defeat at home to Hungary.

That has placed immense pressure on the German’s shoulders, with his critics insisting minimal progress had made in the past two years.

Defeat in the opening World Cup qualifier, at home to Slovenia on September 8, would push him closer to the brink and another friendly reverse in Spain next Friday could also speed up that process.

But Vogts remained defiant and insisted he was still on course to honour the whole of his four-year contract, which expires after the 2006 finals in his homeland.

He said: “I will be the manager for the whole World Cup campaign. I like to work here but I need time.

“I like the way of life here in Scotland and I like working with the young boys. That is the future of Scottish football.

“There is a big difference between international football and Scottish football. It is a long-term project to work with the national team. We will go to Germany and not to sit in the stands with a hot dog.”

Gordon Strachan has already indicated he would find it hard to turn down the Scotland job should it be offered but Vogts insisted he did not see the former Scotland international as a rival.

He said: “I spoke to Gordon six months ago in Porto and there was a different answer to me about that. I have no problem with that.”

Greece’s unexpected triumph in the Euro 2004 finals – under a German manager - had many wondering why Scotland could not enjoy similar success.

But Vogts insisted this was unlikely to be possible for a long time.

He said: “I was asked two or three weeks ago why there was such a difference between the Scottish team and the Greek team.

“The biggest difference is that we have a very young team with an average age of 23. The average ages of the Greek players is 29.

“If we keep this group together then maybe in five or six years we will have a lot of quality and a lot more success.”

Vogts insisted the barrage of criticism which had come his way on regular occasions since succeeding Craig Brown in the spring of 2002 did not bother him.

And he called for his record to be judged on competitive matches only.

He said: “That’s normal. I am an international manager and I know the pressure. It is good that the blame has only been put on me.

“I can live with it. I was a player for 14 years and a manager for more than 25 so I don’t have a problem with that.

“But winning friendlies gives you nothing. They are only preparation matches. My target is only the World Cup qualifiers.

“We haven’t done so bad in qualifiers at Hampden. We won four matches and there was only one draw, against Germany.

“We lost in Holland, in Germany and in Lithuania. That doesn’t look so bad. I am very confident and say ‘forget the friendlies – they are only preparation for the big matches’.”

The only recent friendly successes have come against international lightweights Estonia and Trinidad so there is a very real fear that another heavy thrashing to go with six and five-goal maulings by Holland and France could follow in Valencia.

But Vogts insisted only tough games tested his players’ true worth.

He said: “I remember being asked before we played Trinidad why we were not playing strong opponents. Now it has been turned around.

“We need strong opponents and this is a preparation match for the qualifying match on September 8, nothing more.

“I spoke to the boys two months ago about the Spain match and the boys are very confident about this match and the World Cup qualifying campaign.”

There were no surprises in a 25-man squad for the two games,with only knee-injury victim Christian Dailly absent through injury.

Jackie McNamara, Colin Cameron, Paul Dickov, Malky Mackay and Kevin Kyle all returned after missing the Hungary game through injury.

Goalkeeper Paul Gallacher was omitted because he has not been playing since his summer switch from Dundee United to Premiership newcomers Norwich.

Celtic’s Robert Douglas has already suffered that fate since being ousted at club level by David Marshall, with the teenager making his Scotland debut last week.