Vogts decision due on Friday
A decision on the future of Scotland manager Berti Vogts looks set to be made on Friday.
The Scottish Football Association board intend to bring forward a planned meeting to address the crisis.
But commitments in European competition for some members will not see any decision made early this week.
Board members Campbell Ogilvie, Eric Riley and Chris Robinson are all away on club commitments with Rangers, Celtic and Hearts respectively this week in the Champions League and UEFA Cup.
SFA chief executive David Taylor insists any decision on Vogts’ future must be taken with all 11 board members present.
Taylor said: “A committee meeting is planned for November 4 but we want to bring that date forward.
“We could arrange a conference call between the directors but that would be inappropriate for this type of discussion.
“We need every board member present and must act in a proper manner.
“The manager’s future is not solely down to me. The situation will be reviewed by the board of directors.
“I can’t predict the outcome of the board meeting.
“I don’t know if Berti has support among the board. That’s why we need an exchange of opinions.
“We have undoubtedly fallen behind to qualify for the World Cup but we’re not out of it yet.
“I understand a few of the Tartan Army are concerned about the situation and believe we should change the manager.
“And we always have the occasional call from people wanting the job. It happens at clubs and at international level.”
But, despite a string of embarrassing results under Vogts during his two-and-a-half year tenure, the SFA chief insists the German was the right man for the job from the candidates to succeed Craig Brown.
Taylor added: “When we recruited Berti it was not an easy task.
“The others on the short list were Philippe Troussier, Bruce Rioch and Nevio Scala.
“They were the best candidates available and Berti was clearly the best of them.
“I’d invite you to have a look at where those other candidates are now.
“Suggestions that others were available whom we didn’t approach irritate me because they are not true.
“We started with a long list and whittled that down. The suggestion we were determined to appoint a foreign coach is absolutely not true.
“We set out to find the best manager we could from the candidates available - and that’s what we did.
“It hasn’t put me off going for another foreigner if the position becomes vacant again.
“But we have a manager and should not be speculating on replacements.
“It is difficult to support us at a time like this and giving out abuse to the players and the manager is not normally how the Tartan Army behave.”
Former Coventry and Southampton boss Gordon Strachan is the favourite to replace Vogts if he leaves, as seems likely.
But the SFA may be tempted to hand the job to ex-Rangers and Everton manager Walter Smith as a steadying influence after some poor results and displays.
