Davies: disappointed

They gave away a silly free-kick after five minutes and lost that goal. And that is where it all stemmed from, the silly free-kick, the early goal, the poor performance in the first 45 minutes - and it was too late in the second half.

Billy Davies
Quotes of the week

Macedonia 1-0 Scotland
Soccer Saturday analysis

Billy Davies blamed Scotland's defeat in Macedonia on a woeful first-half performance.

George Burley's side got their Group Nine World Cup qualifying campaign off to the worst possible start as they went down to a dreary 1-0 defeat.

The Scotland boss had been criticised this week for not taking his players out to Macedonia until Friday and the manager's decision backfired when Ilco Naumoski pounced after just five minutes for what proved to be the winner.

And, according to Davies, it was that sluggish start that sealed Scotland's fate.

"They lost it in the opening 45 minutes," he told Soccer Saturday.

"Their performance in the first half was not good. They came out in the second half and performed a lot better and probably deserved something out of the game on their second-half performance, but the way they played in the first 45 minutes - that's where they lost the match.

"They had one or two good chances, obviously McFadden's very dangerous he had some good opportunities.

"They brought (Kris) Boyd on in the second half, who is a goalscorer, but it was just that first half that was very, very poor."

"They gave away a silly free-kick after five minutes and lost that goal. And that is where it all stemmed from, the silly free-kick, the early goal, the poor performance in the first 45 minutes - and it was too late in the second half."

It now makes Wednesday's game in Iceland a must-win for Burley and his boys.

And although the manager has only been in charge for four games, anything but a win would pile the pressure on him, even at this early stage of his reign.

"It's the nature of the beast," said Davies. "After what Alex McLeish and Walter Smith had done it was always going to be a big ask for the next manager.

"What he always needed was time and a lot of support. Now he will need the people behind him to give him lots of support but time in football is few and far between.

"It's massive pressure now. They would have been looking to take four points, if not six, from the first two games. They've now got to Iceland and win that match and there'll be massive pressure on the manager and players.

"It's now a very tough game."