Gordon Smith: 2017 is a huge year for Strachan’s Scotland

THERE is, I think it’s fair to say, a fair bit of negativity flying around the Scottish game as we head into 2017.

Personally, I don’t get it.

I am really looking forward to the year. There are some interesting issues to be resolved and I am intrigued to see how things work out.

The major one, of course, concerns the Scotland national team.

Can we win through the World Cup qualifying group to take our place in the 2018 showpiece in Russia?

And if we don’t, then who will lead the country in the future?

Paul Lambert perhaps? Malky Mackay, the new SFA Performance Director, if he impresses the Association’s chiefs in the months ahead?

I pose that question here because I expect Gordon Strachan to walk the second it becomes clear our chance is gone.

That’s not the case just now.

We won’t clinch an automatic qualification place for finishing first in the group, but the possibility is there to claim a play-off place through securing second.

There are a couple of important provisos to mention here.

Firstly, we have to remember only the best eight second-placed countries get into the play-offs and there are nine groups.

Secondly, once you get there, the format pretty much guarantees the standard of opposition is going to be decent.

For as long as it remains achievable, however, we have to stay positive.

The key is the Slovenia match at Hampden on March 26. It will be crucial to our chances.

Beat them and the manager will stay on and the team – and the Tartan Army – will go into the remaining fixtures with renewed confidence.

Lose and we are as good as done for.

Gordon Strachan, who would certainly know it, would then be liable to decide the time is right to fall upon his sword.

He can’t afford to view the match that way. He has to look at it as an opportunity and really go for it.

The good news is all the signs are he will have some decent ammunition available to him.

People like to bemoan the lack of quality in this generation of Scottish players. It is a popular stance to adopt just now.

I think it ignores the facts.

Stuart Armstrong, for example, has improved out of all recognition this season under the coaching of Celtic boss, Brendan Rodgers.

He has to go straight into the Scotland team because he offers the team something it doesn’t have right now – a player capable of bursting forward from midfield and scoring and creating goals.

The success of James Forrest has been less pronounced but he, too, has kicked on, which is again credit to his club manager.

And while Leigh Griffiths hasn’t had as much game time as he might have liked this season because of the impact made by Moussa Dembele, he has nevertheless shown himself to be in excellent form.

Going forward, he should be Scotland’s first-choice striker.

Speaking of form, it has been tremendously encouraging to see how Matt Phillips has been playing for West Brom.

And with 19-year-old Oliver Burke very much enjoying life in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig, there are some exciting options.

The age levels below Burke will, meanwhile, be at the forefront of Malky Mackay’s thoughts.

It is his job to try to ensure a steady stream of talent is produced for years to come, of players capable of leading us back to major Finals.

As much as anything, I am intrigued to see both what his exact remit is, and how he goes about the formidable task of getting everyone acting in the best interests of the national team.