Barry Ferguson says Alex McLeish deserves more time as Scotland boss
Wednesday 17 October 2018 17:41, UK
Barry Ferguson believes Scotland boss Alex McLeish deserves more time to prove he is the man to take the country forward.
Scotland, who have lost five of their last six games, were beaten 2-1 by Israel in the UEFA Nations League last week and followed that with a 3-1 home loss against Portugal.
Ferguson believes McLeish has the squad to turn things around and says it is too early to be calling for the 59-year-old to be replaced.
Speaking at a Star Sixes media day, Ferguson said: "It (defeat to Israel) was disappointing, there's no doubt.
"For me, I think we've got better players than Israel and we should be beating teams like that.
"I think it's far too early for people calling for Alex's head.
"You've got to give him time. Alex has got a good team, top players, so there's no doubt in my mind that we'll beat Israel and Albania, in next month's double header."
The 40-year-old, who made 45 appearances for Scotland between 1998 and 2009, also believes his former club Rangers are on the right path, and could be challenging for major honours under Steven Gerrard as early as this season.
"I think Rangers have been brilliant under Steven Gerrard this season," Ferguson said.
"It's just the away form they need to sort, and if they fix that, they've got a real chance of competing this year."
Robert Pires will be captaining a Rest of the World team while Ferguson will be skippering a Scotland side featuring Simon Donnelly at the second edition of Star Sixes - a competitive six-a-side tournament for international legends - at Glasgow's SSE Hydro from January 4-6, 2019, live on Sky Sports.
