David Moyes is being lined up for a swift return to work as the next Scotland manager after his resignation from Sunderland last month.
The former Manchester United manager has been identified by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) as its preferred candidate to succeed Gordon Strachan, whose position will come under serious threat if his side are beaten by England in the World Cup qualifier at Hampden Park on Saturday.
Strachan has been under pressure throughout a disjointed qualifying campaign that began badly when Scotland drew at home to Lithuania in their first home fixture in October, with only a late Chris Martin winner against Slovenia in March giving him a stay of execution. A heavy defeat by England could spell the end of his four-year reign.
The 60-year-old may be allowed to see out the campaign or continue until it is mathematically certain that Scotland will not qualify for the World Cup, but the SFA has already begun discussing potential alternatives, with Moyes top of the list.
Moyes’s stock is as low as it has been in his managerial career after failures at United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland after his successful decade in charge at Everton, and the SFA is hoping that he would relish the chance to rebuild his reputation at international level.
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The 54-year-old is eager to return to work after leaving Sunderland over a dispute about the club’s budget for next season in the Sky Bet Championship and accepts that his next job will not be in the Premier League. The opportunity of returning to Scotland is likely to appeal and would allow him to return to the managerial model that has brought him the most success: one of modest resources and limited expectations.
The SFA is yet to make an approach to Moyes but it has concluded that failure to make the qualifying play-offs for three successive tournaments would make Strachan’s position untenable so has begun to assess its options.
Defeat by England would leave Scotland nine points behind the group F leaders and adrift of Slovakia and Slovenia in the race for the play-offs. Scotland were the first European team to be eliminated from qualification for the 2014 World Cup after Strachan succeeded Craig Levein midway through the campaign. After a bright start to Euro 2016 qualification, results have deteriorated again in the past two years, with Gibraltar, Malta and Slovenia the only countries that Scotland have beaten in a competitive match since March 2015.
Moyes could be asked to take over for the rest of Scotland’s qualifying campaign if the SFA fears that he will get offers from elsewhere. Strachan’s contract expires in October and an early termination would involve only a modest compensation payment.