Paul Hartley has hit out at Alex McLeish’s critics on twitter.
After a five year break from management in the UK the appointment of the EBT mastermind as Scotland boss was greeted with despair on-line.
Having repeatedly touted himself for a manager’s job at Ibrox the SFA turned to McLeish after being knocked back for the job by Michael O’Neill and Walter Smith.
With his stumbling media appearances some cruel fans dubbed the new manager as the Ginger Alkie as results took a downturn from the Gordon Strachan era.
Defeats to Costa Rica, Peru, Mexico, Belgium, Israel and Portugal don’t make for good reading with players falling over themselves to be unavailable for this week’s matches against Albania and Israel.
Failure to top their fourth tier Nations League group will bring further criticism but Hartley has jumped to the defence of the international boss.
“The game’s definitely changed with the stress and pressure a manager is under and social media has a part to play in that,” Hartley told the Daily Record at an event arranged by William Hill who now sponsor the Scotland international side. “If they lose three games people are calling for their heads, wanting them to go.
“I know for a fact a lot of chairmen and board members are influenced by what they read on Twitter.
Hampden half-empty whilst Scotland play the current European Champions. When will the incompetent arseholes at the SFA sack this useless fucking ginger alkie?
— Larsson’s Chip (@roonye77) October 14, 2018
The ginger alkie has said that that dirty git Naismith is now first choice for Scotland and Griff needs to prove otherwise. Haw @Leighgriff09 – tell him to ram it, and tell Jamesie to tell him too.
— john m whalen ???? (@gcfcjohn) September 12, 2018
“It’s as bad as it has ever been. There was one weekend in October when four managers went. I always thought in Scotland you got a bit more time but it has actually become worse up here than in England now.
“Alan Stubbs got four league games at St Mirren, I got three games at Falkirk this season. And other managers are getting the same – it’s not just us.
“Now Alex is facing his third competitive game and he’s under pressure. I looked at the first Albania game and people were saying, ‘This is a must-win game for Alex McLeish’.
“I know we had a few bad results in friendlies but that was his first competitive game and the manager was under pressure. I thought that was harsh.
“When you are the manager of Scotland there is some amount of pressure on you but you’ve got to give him a chance. But because of that lack of patience nowadays these next two games have become ‘must win’. The first one in particular is vital.
“I didn’t think Albania were any great shakes at Hampden but this game is away from home and that’s always difficult in international football.
“I enjoyed working under Alex with Scotland. I worked under him at Hibs too. He bought me and sold me so he knows his stuff!”
Scotland face Albania on Saturday before concluding their Nations League campaign at home to Israel three days later.