Scotland striker Kenny Miller believes new manager Gordon Strachan can do a Walter Smith and transform the nation’s fortunes.
The Strachan era gets under way in earnest at Pittodrie on Wednesday when he takes his seat in the dugout for the first time for the friendly against Estonia.
The former Celtic boss finds himself in a similar situation to ex-Rangers gaffer Smith in that he is coming in when the country is at a low ebb.
Smith took over from flop Berti Vogts in 2004 when the Scots were down and out. However, he went on to take the team 70 places up the world rankings.
Strachan has also been charged with revitalising the side in the wake of Craig Levein’s reign, which came to an abrupt end last November with the World Cup qualifying campaign in tatters.
The only way is up, insists Miller, and he thinks Strachan can make an instant impact, starting with the match against the Estonians in Aberdeen.
“The new manager has to come in and somehow get the performance level raised,” said Miller, who worked under Strachan at Celtic Park as well as Smith at Ibrox.
“That is exactly what Walter did. He took a group of players who were under-achieving and, whether through tactics or man management, for some reason he got a lift (in performance level) from every single player in his squad.
“I am sure Gordon would like to get the same kind of response. There is no reason why we can’t spark things up quickly. Managers come in and have a plan for the future but in the short-term you need a reaction.
“We play Wales and Serbia in qualifiers next month and there is no way we will be going into those games expecting to be get beat. We want to win them and if we do then maybe this campaign will have a little bit of life in it.
“You always get a buzz when a new boss comes in. You never know, we might even resurrect this campaign.”
Miller is still at a loss to explain why things didn’t work under Levein when it all looked so rosy before a ball was kicked in the Brazil 2014 campaign.
“We as players spoke about the last manager, how highly we thought of him and how well we worked with him,” said Miller.
“Everything that was said before was true about the spirit and how the players all love to come away with Scotland.
“Everything was in place for us to go and have a successful campaign. For some reason it didn’t go that way on the field. There was a vibe in the group but the performances just didn’t come.
“The players genuinely believed we could do well. I don’t know why we didn’t perform in those first four games against Serbia, Macedonia, Wales and Belgium.
“It was really disappointing for everyone involved because we really did think we could go and win home or away.
“Now, though, we do realise the position we are in as regards the group. For example, we could win our next two qualifiers and still find ourselves off the pace. But there are a few gears we can go up.
“So it is about regrouping and this game against Estonia is a chance for the manager to see how he wants us to play.
“We saw during his time at Celtic that he could organise a team very well, be it for domestic or European games. He sets his teams up properly to give them the best chance of winning.”
For more build-up to the match, see Tuesday’s Courier or try our new digital edition.