In the main, the Scottish media and the Tartan Army have not proved to be the most voracious pack of wolves, unlike in England, when it comes to hunting a Scotland team manager.

There is a well-grounded feeling north of the border that, with the glory days of Denis Law and Jim Baxter now well gone, Scotland will humbly take whatever it can get, and not organise any lynch mobs for managers or players.

Nonetheless, George Burley, who today leads Scotland against Macedonia in the opening qualifier of the 2010 World Cup campaign, has not always enjoyed a fragrant press, and some of that reservation has seemed justified. Burley can be rambling and faintly incoherent when he is addressing the media, and certainly relies on a peculiar type of blandness when setting out his stall.

As one observer said yesterday as we boarded the plane for Skopje: “I just hope this guy is more inspiring when he is addressing the players in the dressing-room.”

Burley was at it again yesterday when talking about the importance of today's game. On the one hand he talked about the “good experience” he had as a club manager which had convinced the SFA to hand him the job. On the other hand, he played down his own role in our hopes for the team over the next two years.

“It is not about one man or one player - this is not about George Burley or any other one individual,” he said. “If we start picking holes then we are no longer a country. We have to stick together to have a chance of qualifying. I am not the most important person.”

These were peculiar words for a manager to offer, having just been asked some relatively airy questions about his team line-up for today. No one was trying to “pick holes” on the eve of Scotland's opening qualifier, though one thing is beyond doubt - as manager of Scotland, Burley is the key figure in this imminent drama, however much he wishes to deny it.

In one sense a football manager's off-field oratory doesn't matter a jot. Bob Paisley, it is said, could hardly string a coherent sentence together in English, but it didn't stop him being rightly remembered as the greatest club manager these islands have ever produced. In Glasgow, it is said that the great Jock Wallace, a treblewinning manager with Rangers in the 1970s, mangled his sentences much as he wished his players to physically mangle the opposition.

Thus, so what if a manager or coach is verbally bumbling or disjointed? All that matters, surely, are results on the field. To that end, most of us tend to forgive Burley his vapid pronouncements, and try to concentrate on events on the pitch.

He has a good record as a football coach - in particular at Ipswich Town, Derby County and Heart of Midlothian - and deserves a chance with Scotland. And if Burley can get off to a flyer in Macedonia this afternoon, he will certainly have the upper hand - however temporary it might be - in his media relations.

“We will all be focused and we'll give it everything we can to qualify,” he said. “It will be tough in Skopje but we are all excited. This is Scotland so there is extra pressure on me. I have to try to get the best out of the players, and I'm looking at every area of the preparation, in the knowledge that I'm not able to work with the players every day in training.

“We must show we are good enough and earn the right to qualify. Nothing is decided on paper and it is what happens over eight games that counts, not the first one or two. We will be judged on our performances.”

After years of Scottish wars of attrition, there is a hope that Burley will remain true to his word and give Scotland a new, more offensive edge on the pitch. There has even been heady talk of the national team actually going with two strikers - James McFadden and Kenny Miller.

“I hope we will carry a threat at times,” Burley said. “We have a plan for Macedonia but it is not all about systems, it is about getting the best out of the players and getting good combinations. We've not had much luck in terms of injuries but I'm looking for midfielders to get forward. Our possession will be important.

“Macedonia are an exceptional side. I say that because they have been together for two or three years and have had good results against England, Poland and Croatia. It would be naive to think we could come here and find picking up three points very easy. They are hard to beat on their own ground.”

For now, hopefully, Scotland's most articulate language will be in scoring goals.

FYR Macedonia (possible; 3-4-3): P Milosevski (Paralimni FC) - G Sedloski (SV Mattersburg), I Mitreski (Energie Cottbus), N Noveski (Mainz 05) - V Lazarevski (Polonia Warsaw), V Sumulikoski (Ipswich Town), V Grozdanovski (FK Vojvodina), R Petrov (FC Heerenveen) - I Namoski (SV Mattersburg), G Pandev (Lazio), G Maznov (FC Tom Tomsk).

Scotland (possible; 4-4-1-1): C Gordon (Sunderland) - G Alexander (Burnley), G Caldwell (Celtic), S McManus (Celtic), G Naysmith (Sheffield United) - S Brown (Celtic), D Fletcher (Manchester United), P Hartley (Celtic), B Robson (Celtic) - J McFadden (Birmingham City) - K Miller (Rangers).

Referee: P Kralovec (Czech Republic).

Television: Live Setanta Sports 1 (kick-off 2pm)