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GLASGOW: George Burley will remain as Scotland manager despite having failed to lead his squad to the play-offs for next year's World Cup, the Scottish Football Association (SFA) confirmed on Tuesday.
A 1-0 home defeat by the Netherlands last week ended Scotland's chances of reaching South Africa and had been widely expected to trigger the dismissal of Burley, who had ruled out resigning in the wake of what was a deeply disappointing qualifying campaign.
But SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith said Burley had convinced the governing body's hierarchy that Scotland were moving in the right direction after encouraging displays in their last two qualifiers - a 2-0 win over Macedonia preceding the narrow defeat to the Dutch, who finished group nine with maximum points.
"We met with George yesterday and it was clear that he was as disappointed as everyone that we have not made it to South Africa," Smith said.
"You will not meet a more passionate, committed Scot than George. He is a man who cares deeply for his country and wants to take us back to the stage where we regularly qualify for major championships."
Burley is under contract until 2012 and the SFA's thinking may have been influenced by the costs involved in paying him off and the absence of any obvious candidate to succeed him.
Smith added: "George and his players have shown that they are moving in the right direction. George has been rebuilding his squad and brought through many young players who he feels will bring us success in the years to come.
"The next competitive match is not for another 12 months and this gives George and his players the chance to continue to grow and develop together. This is not the time for change, it is a time to invest faith in the manager and the players."
Burley, who replaced Alex McLeish at the helm of the national side in January 2008, has arguably not enjoyed his fair share of luck as Scotland manager with fixture scheduling, some controversial refereeing decisions and Chris Iwelumo's open-goal miss in a pivotal goalless draw against Norway at Hampden all conspiring against his side's chances.
He has also had to contend with Lee McCulloch and Kris Boyd calling time on their Scotland careers while he banished former captain Barry Ferguson and goalkeeper Allan McGregor from international football after an all-night drinking session following a 3-0 away defeat to the Dutch.
His critics maintained that those issues reflected poor man management and that luck should have evened itself out over the course of an eight-match campaign.
Burley also suffered in comparison to his immediate predecessors, McLeish and Walter Smith, under whose leadership Scotland ran France and Italy close in qualifying for Euro 2008. - AFP/de
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