Scotland are now being led in the right direction

Craig Levein used to be fond of describing his Scotland squad as an “improving” group of players.

The trouble was, of course, that results never reflected it. While in his care, the national side won just three of 12 competitive matches.

In the four World Cup qualifiers that preceded his dismissal, we took just two points from four games, a miserable run that sunk the country’s dreams of going to Brazil.

Since then, three stirring victories under his successor Gordon Strachan have done wonders for the national mood and caused some to question whether Levein was let down by the players during his time in charge.

I don’t believe so.

Ultimately a manager’s fate all comes down to one man, and that is the manager himself. No-one gave Martin O’Neill a chance when he took over Celtic at a time when Dick Advocaat’s Rangers were sweeping all before them. Look how that turned out.

Likewise after O’Neill had Celtic dominant again, no-one predicted that Alex McLeish would come in and immediately get the Indian sign over his Old Firm rival.

Managers are crucial because they set out the framework under which their team plays and do so much to set the mood.

Gordon Strachan is succeeding, at least in part, because he has adopted such a positive tone right from his first day. The teams he picks are top heavy in terms of creative players who are encouraged to go out and express themselves.

Think Robert Snodgrass, Shaun Maloney, Barry Bannon and, most recently, Ikechi Anya. That has been a breath of fresh air, a world away from the negativity of the 4-6-0 formation Levein sent out to face the Czech Republic in Prague.

There was no guarantee the positive approach would pay off as well as it has. Recording home and away wins over Croatia is a fantastic effort. But by adopting it, the coach gave it a chance.

The group he inherited were desperately dispirited. Now they are full of confidence and the whole of Scotland is looking forward to the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

With good reason. 24 out of the 54 entrants into the Euros will qualify. Finish third in the group of five or six and you are going to be in with a chance of getting through.

We will be in a low pot, the legacy of previous underachievement. We can be sure, though, countries in higher pots will not be keen to draw us. They will have seen the wins over Croatia and will be apprehensive.

That in itself is a great achievement.

Gordon Strachan deserves great credit for leading us to this point, as do his players. I would doubt they are putting in any more effort than they were under the last manager.

The difference is now they are being led in the right direction.