Coyle comes out fighting for Burley

Defeat to Holland on Wednesday has left Burley's position as national coach in jeopardy, but Coyle thinks that the Scots' brave performance, coupled with that in Saturday's 2-0 win over Macedonia, shows that there is no need for the Scottish FA to make a rash decision. Asked whether he thought Burley should be kept on, Coyle said: "Absolutely. "He's shown in those two games that they were a whisker away from that play-off, and who's to say they wouldn't have made the World Cup finals if they were in the play-offs? "I think the nature of football is that there is always speculation, people have opinions - that's why we love football. "But I was at the game on Saturday and in the second half I thought we were outstanding against Macedonia, and fully merited the victory - there could have been a few more goals to add. "Having watched it last night, if Scotland had won the game (against Holland) there would have been no arguments, against a team that has a very high ranking in world football. "For me, George has worked ever so hard in the last two games and the players have shown they are prepared to do the utmost for him. But someone is always going to have something to say on it, but the day after is not really the time for that. "I'm pretty sure George wants to carry on the fight, I know he's very proud to lead his country." Coyle admitted that the match against Holland - in which Steven Naismith and Miller both hit the woodwork - reflected Scotland's entire campaign, featuring a series of near misses. "I think the margins at international level are minimal, and Scotland could have won that game. "They had some real gilt-edge scoring chances, real opportunities to win the game, but never took them and paid a heavy price. "It's an immense disappointment, because they certainly merited being runners-up in the group and getting a shot at the play-offs. I really felt for George and his staff because the margins are so fine. "There's been a couple of big goalscoring opportunities in Scotland's campaign that have passed by and if those gilt-edge chances were going in, the group would have a completely different complexion. "My heart goes out because it was gut-wrenching stuff, particularly losing the late goal."