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Former Scotland manager Craig Brown reckons Sam Allardyce’s exit as England manager has handed Gordon Strachan’s side a World Cup qualifying boost.
Experienced boss Allardyce stepped down on Tuesday after he allegedly offered advice on how to circumvent player transfer rules during an undercover investigation.
After just one match and 67 days in charge, Allardyce has been replaced on an interim basis by England Under-21 boss Gareth Southgate.
Scotland face Lithuanian and Slovakia in their next two Group F matches but former Middlesbrough manager Southgate is set to be in the dugout for Scotland’s visit to Wembley on November 11.
And Brown reckons the reshuffle could benefit Scotland.
Speaking to the BBC, Brown said: “It mixes them up a bit because they were looking forward to having Sam Allardyce as the manager. Now there’s a complete and utter upset south of the border.
“Sam is a hugely experienced guy. Now, with the greatest will in the world, Gareth Southgate hasn’t the same experience as Sam. He’s not got the track record.
“He was at Middlesbrough for a while as manager and managed the England Under-21 team, so he really hasn’t got the vast experience that Sam had.
“We don’t know how good he is going to be, although he did exceptionally well with the England Under-21 team and a lot of these lads that have come through were his boys some years ago.
“It might yet turn out to be a good thing for England, but I would rather be playing against Gareth Southgate than Sam Allardyce if I was Gordon Strachan.
“It is a slight boost to Scotland because a team would like stability and Sam’s had one game.”
