Hugh Keevins: Trust me. I'm an expert

I was once summoned to Gordon Strachan's office at Lennoxtown for a private consultation during his time as Celtic manager.

I had alleged in print that Gordon had mocked a female reporter who asked him about Celtic drawing a third match in succession in a way that I considered to be sexist, i.e. he wouldn't have behaved in the same manner towards a bloke.

"What qualifies you to call me sexist?" Gordon began.

"What qualifies you to tell me I'm not qualified to call you sexist?" I replied.

At that point, while realising it was better to accept a score draw rather than have me whitter on in his workspace, Gordon called a halt to proceedings and we continued to get on famously thereafter.

And here's the moral to the story. Every now and then Gordon will try to fill your head full of questionable opinions and defy the members of the press to stop him in full flow and say, "Hang on a minute. That's wrong."

So, hang on a minute, Gordon. That post-match press conference of yours after we drew with Lithuania at Hampden on Saturday night.

Lithuania were lucky and Scotland were unlucky. Nonsense.

The second half was the best we've played for a long time. Rubbish.

Chris Martin was outstanding up front. Are you having a laugh?

If we put the second half together, we were the far better team. Is that the second half that was punctuated by loud jeering and ended with the Scotland team being booed off the park?

I know tolerance of other peoples opinions is not your strong point, Gordon, but those who contradict you do understand when their intelligence is being insulted.

We're now in a position where, if we lose to Slovakia tomorrow night, Scotland can forget about going to the World Cup in Russia in 2018.

And, come to think about it, if we need a last minute of regulation time goal to get a draw with Lithuania at Hampden it's unlikely the next World Cup will have anything to do with us anyway.

We can argue that point on Superscoreboard tonight. That's the programme Gordon was good enough to plug when he was telling a man from the BBC what he could do with his plan to ask the manager a couple of questions sent in by fans prior to the group match with our Baltic opponents.

Talk to fans? Gordon was having none of that and his disdain for the very idea came across loud and clear.

Now there are some fans who are sensing payback time and waiting to see if the result in Slovakia prompts a debate on who should be Scotland manager.

And it's Gordon who has made that rod for his own back with his attitude.

Remember the words of Jock Stein, engraved on his statue outside outside Celtic Park?

"Football without fans is nothing."

Callers to Superscoreboard are rude, aggressive, funny, knowledgeable, irritating, disrespectful, vengeful, insightful. You name it, they're it. That doesn't mean they've to be silenced or held in contempt.

It's a free country and unless Scotland win tomorrow night Gordon will find out just how free it is.

Our most potent form of attack against Lithuania was a long throw-in, and when that is the case then we have a wee problem.

Right now the most important piece of team news is finding out if Callum Paterson's arms are all right, otherwise we could be in a bit of bother in Slovakia.

Gordon has another conversational trait that comes to mind. He says "Trust me" at the end of a sentence for additional emphasis.

Well, trust me, Gordon. The majority still want you to succeed and take us to a major final for the first time in twenty years. We'd rather you won in Slovakia and then beat England at Wembley.

But, whatever happens, every one of us who supports the national team will exercise the right to think for ourselves. Trust me.

Fate's a funny thing.

Gordon made our phone-in sound like the Devil's work. Now the Devil is in the detail tomorrow night.

Our display at Hampden was unsatisfactory, just like the final result and the displays given by several players in the team.

You can pull a face and dismiss any suggestion to the contrary while attempting to tell the public they must have been watching another game from you, but you can't deny folks who were paying thirty and forty pounds to be at Hampden the right to speak their mind.

Listen on line from Slovakia tonight, Gordon, and get a handle on public opinion. You can even call in if you like. And, in the meantime, good luck tomorrow night.

By the way, I still keep that text you sent me. The one where you said I was a pain in the a**e but good at my job. I keep it because I took that as a compliment coming from such a terrific player and accomplished coach.

But sometimes I'll have to say you were wrong, and so will others.