Scottish board to meet as Vogts nears final curtain

The Scottish Football Association insists that no decision on the future of Berti Vogts is expected until Thursday.

The Scottish Football Association insists that no decision on the future of Berti Vogts is expected until Thursday.

The Scotland national manager, who has been heavily criticised since a 1-1 draw in Moldova made qualification for the World Cup finals in two years' time highly unlikely, is expected to leave the post this week.

The 11 board members who will decide Vogts' future are not due to meet until this Thursday. But speculation yesterday had suggested that the German's two-and-a-half-year reign would end tomorrow.

An SFA spokesman said, however: "We wouldn't envisage anything before Thursday."

The former Rangers and Everton manager Walter Smith, whose most recent post was Sir Alex Ferguson's No 2 at Old Trafford, and Gordon Strachan are seen as favourites to take over. Scotland's next World Cup qualifier is in Italy on 26 March.

The embattled Vogts received support from Ferguson yesterday. The Manchester United manager said the seeds of decline were sown in Scottish football two decades ago.

"I could see the dangers many years ago," Ferguson said. "You can go back to the early 1980s when the teachers stopped looking after the kids' football. Some people should take a step back and realise what a job Berti has done in respect of giving young players a chance."