Sep 9 2009 Billy Brown; Colin Duncan

The highlight of Saturday for me was the reaction of George Burley after Scotland's two goals.

It was a spontaneous outpouring of both relief and euphoria in the wake of a sustained torrent of criticism.

I feel the venom directed to the manager has been out of order and unwarranted. It has also been premature.

Yes, results have not been what we'd hoped for at the outset of the qualifying campaign. And George will be the first to put his hands up and admit he has made mistakes along the way.

But with one game remaining we still have a terrific opportunity to qualify for the play-offs. That seems to have been forgotten by a lot of people.

Criticism is part and parcel of the game and it is something all managers have to deal with.

I remember Graham Taylor being branded a "Turnip Head" after a failed qualifying campaign with England while his predecessor Sir Bobby Robson was also slaughtered by sections of his own media despite doing a terrific job.

Crisis

To be honest I thought the Scots were above all that although it appears we share the same traits as our cousins south of the border.

It doesn't help either when you are also getting it in the neck from within. In times of a crisis you look for a little bit of backing from your employers. George didn't get that and there's no doubt he will be hurting.

But, unlike certain others at the SFA, he has managed to retain his dignity at an extremely difficult and emotional time.

George has been around the block long enough to know how it works and against Holland he has the opportunity to have the last laugh.

It's a huge ask and to score against that calibre of opposition won't be easy.

Scotland have to open up although if we do that Holland have the quality to slice us to ribbons.

If that happens and it goes against us then the Scotland manager will be branded "tactically naive".

For me that is the most over-used phrase in football at the moment, particularly by people who have never been involved in the game at any level.

I find it extraordinary. If George doesn't go for it he'll be labelled too cautious and if he does and it fails he will be hung out to dry.

I think he should just threw caution to the wind, although that's easy to say when you're sitting on the sofa watching the game on television.

Physical

Man for man there's no way Scotland can match up to the Dutch so in these situations I always feel it is best just to have a go.

We should go 4-4-2, push up the park, get in their faces and try to be as physical as possible.

By the same token I wouldn't blame George for going 4-5-1 as the added security of a holding midfielder against a passing side like the Dutch makes sense.

It remains to be seen how hungry they'll be given they have qualified so the onus is on Scotland to make them lose heart with a display of controlled aggression.

If we can reproduce the second-half performance against Macedonia anything is possible.

There's nothing more inspirational than a capacity Hampden crowd roaring you on in a game of this magnitude.

That's what playing for your country is all about. Scotland have risen to the challenge when the odds have been against them in the past. It's when we seem to perform best.

George has already been written off as the wrong man for the job. I sincerely hope he makes all the doubters eat their words tonight. It's nothing more than he deserves.

As told to Colin Duncan