Former Blues boss George Burley has been sacked by Scotland in the wake of Saturday's 3-0 defeat to Wales. Burley's assistant, former Town skipper Terry Butcher, has also lost his job.

Scottish FA chief executive Gordon Smith said: "It is with regret that we announce George Burley’s departure.

"We now have four months until our next scheduled match, against Czech Republic, and will therefore utilise the intervening period to ensure we attract the best possible replacement to take Scotland forward.

“The decision was taken after a meeting with the board of directors and, subsequently, the national coach. The board was in unanimous agreement.

"It should be stressed that the decision was not a direct consequence of Saturday’s unacceptable 3-0 defeat to Wales but, rather, a realisation that the expectations of the supporters, the Scottish FA and George, himself, were not being met."

Burley said: “I would like to take the opportunity to express my thanks to my backroom team, the Scottish FA, the players and the Tartan Army for the support they have shown throughout my tenure as national coach and I wish the national team success for the future.”

Burley had been manager of Scotland since January 2008.

Meanwhile, former Town chairman David Sheepshanks, still a member of the club board and chairman of the PLC, has been linked with the role of Football League chairman in place of the departing Lord Mawhinney.

Photo: Action Images

Mark added 22:16 - Nov 16 It took Burley several years at Ipswich because he did not have the money to spend, and in fact had to sell key players time after time to balance the books. Only when we were on the bring did the club splash the cash on the excellent Marcus Stewart to give us the final push. It is true that after the first Premiership season (when Burley took us to 5th in the league and to the UEFA Cup!) that mistakes were made with the likes of Sereni and Finidi, and ultimately Burley paid the price for that after relegation. Most managers have highs and lows in their careers. As for giving Keane more time, the problem is his failure is so dramatic, taking one of the better Championship clubs, spending £8m, then being 23rd in the league. His signings have not been up to scratch, the team plays poorly week-in-week out (odd exception e.g. Watford match), his tactics fail (remember 4-5-1 at home?), his selections are strange (Trotter in, D.Wright in wilderness for weeks) and it seems he has upset the squad. I am all for giving managers time, and if we were mid-table I'd have no problem, but do we risk going down?!

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bigfish added 22:36 - Nov 16 Have a moan about George but remember the 2000 Wembley trip, Euro Tours i bet he was a god then. Good luck GB you will be back and do a good job.
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lozklein added 22:42 - Nov 16 I remember a lot of you lot demanding GB be sacked back when....how memories fade.....it is rare that a manager goes back to a club and does as well as the first time round....
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imafootballgod added 22:59 - Nov 16 i think...we should keep keane atm and get burley in some sort of position at the club ready for when keane truly does mess up!
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Greektractor added 23:08 - Nov 16 I love the way some of u lot contradict yourselves. "He did really well with a bunch of crap players". He didn't achieve the goal set for him though which was world cup qualification, hence the sacking. Why not take the same attitude with roy? Crap players, long way to go, give him a season then judge him. He's been given two years to promote us. You see the similar circumstances? The mans a legend. Some people seem to forget that..

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devontractorboy added 23:42 - Nov 16 Greektractor me boy, if keane should get 2 years then expect to be in 'third division old money' next season, his record thus far is appauling, there's no sign us getting out of a relegation fight and the players obviously don't want to play for him! Get in Burley & Butcher, 2 men who know and love the club, Burley had us playing great football and yes he messed up because we couldn't handle the second Premiership year and UEFA Cup, new signings disrupted the team and we became a victim of collapse of transfer market and collapse of ITV Digital. Burleys done well everywhere except Scotland (You can't buy scottish players!!) he played under and was mentored by Sir Bobby Robson. Remember the good parts of Burleys reign THEY WERE GREAT!!!!! Burleys barmy Army....Burleys barmy army....!!!!

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FormerlyCGS added 01:53 - Nov 17 DRVON TRACTOR UR TALKING ALOT OF SENSE, KEANE ADN WOTISNAME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!
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muhrensleftfoot added 07:19 - Nov 17 Both of them Ipswich Town legends & Butcher is a Suffolk boy too. I don't think they'd do any worse than the current management team here, & they would be doing it from the "heart". It won't happen though, so lets hope RK turns it around before it's too late
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nobrain added 08:07 - Nov 17 Predictable actions by Scottish FA. Kick out the manager, when they have done little or nothing to improve the quality of home-grown players. If they are basing their management selection on the expectation of Scottish supporters, then Gawd help 'em. Having spent a good deal of time in Scotland, I know that their expectations are not very high! Best of luck to George.
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PhatCookie added 08:31 - Nov 17 this jsut proves how fickle all you real town fans are, when we were relegated from the prem and results were bad you all wanted GB out, in fact if i remember, some of you were actually very horrible to the man. Now he is about again you all want him back, xxx
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StavangerBlue added 08:44 - Nov 17 George did a great job at Ipswich bringing back some pride to the club. He'll always be welcome at Portman Road. Would he return to Ipswich? I think he could do better than Ipswich now. Looking at the pictures he'll probably take a much needed brake and recharge the batteries on a warm tropical island. Who would blame him? Years gone by Scotland have produced some great players. Where are they now? Scotland have failed to develop talent in recent years and need to look at themselves. An international manager can only work with the talent he has at his disposal.

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cats_whiskers added 08:59 - Nov 17 Scotland were first in allowing foreign players in their top division,and are paying the price because they have messed up their leagues and created mini divisions and are now playing each other 4 times a season; How ludicrous is that? and we had the same problem in cricket before they regulated the amount of foreigners per team, just look how we mostly struggle these days in that and haven't really recovered to this day. It wont be far far away before 'England are as poor unless it's addressed and they regulate it to say 4 only. People also should remember Burley wasn't quite as good a manager after 'Dale Roberts' was no longer his assistant, (Dale died from a serious illness and his contribution seems to be overlooked) Ipswich will not be relegated this year... yes, we aren't brilliant but we shall have a better second half and move up the league, those teams immediately above us now are still catchable with the amount of points still available. So get real, and look at how things are being messed up by constantly changing things for change sake and it isn't the solution.

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COPOSTCODE added 09:17 - Nov 17 I to still admire him , he gave me some great entertainment while manager here.
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Lightningboy added 10:09 - Nov 17 The day we sacked Burley for me was my worst day as a town fan..a disgraceful decision and we've paid for it ever since. If Keane is kept on I sense there will be a worse day coming in may. At least if we were to be relegated i'd fancy our chances with Burley rebuilding the club rather than Keane. Bring back King George.
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Surco72 added 10:17 - Nov 17 Did a great job for us and the highs of finishing fifth and Europe far out way the relegation . It is better to have one great season than many mediocre forgetable ones . As for the change for change sake ask any Spurs fan if the change after their awful start to last season was worth it ? Its not about the change its about the manager coming in
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paristractor added 10:58 - Nov 17 get him back....
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yorksblue added 10:59 - Nov 17 Agent Butcher's done his job well North of the border. He's also been a joke manager wherever he's been down South, so we definitely don't want him here.
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pottyblue added 12:55 - Nov 17 has everyone forgotten we SACKED him because he couldnt handle big time charlie players get real . the club is going forward not back
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Pendejo added 08:15 - Nov 18 Hearts win ratio 75% under Burley but he still got the sack..... At any other club that would lead to an improved contract... still the owner knew best eh?
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bjc added 04:11 - Nov 20 burley,s the bloke town needs keano,s all tip and no iceberg
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bjc added 04:23 - Nov 20 'going forward' to the 3rd aint smart business whoevers in charge up there should get rid of keano. from down here in tasmania it looks like keanos in the process of causing long term possibly permanant damage to the club
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byebyesheepshanks added 17:29 - Nov 20 GET GEORGE BURLEY BACK. WE'LL PLAY GOOD FOOTBALL, HE UNDERSTANDS THE CLUB & WE WOULD ALL GIVE HIM ALL THE TIME HE NEEDS. HE PROVED HIMSELF WITH OTHER CLUBS AFTER RELEGATION. HE ACHIEVED THE PLAYOFFS 5 TIMES & WE FINISHED 5TH IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE. PLEASE MARCUS - GET HIM IN HERE - WOULD BE CHEAP WITH NO COMPENSATION TO PAY TO ANOTHER CLUB MAKING UP FOR THE MONEY WE WOULD HAVE TO PAY KEANO. WHAT A SHOE IN. HE'S THE MAN.

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Jonnosdreadlocks added 20:50 - Nov 21 Well done to Terry Butcher for masterminding the sweaty socks failure as Burley's assistant manager, what a patriotic Englishman. I would give Burley another crack at Town, sure he screwed up but I would be prepared to give him another chance.
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