The Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor situation has been well documented over the course of the last two weeks, but for the first time Scotland head coach George Burley has come out publicly on how the decision came to be made and why it took multiple meetings before the ultimate line was drawn in the sand.

Via BBC

“It’s not a decision that was taken lightly, but the SFA have to set an example to other players,” he said. “I have to have the respect of the players and make tough decisions.”

The pair had initially been dropped to the bench by Burley following the early-hours drinking session at the team hotel following the 3-0 World Cup qualifying loss in Amsterdam.

However, Burley imposed the lifetime bans following the public criticism of the Rangers duo’s actions.

“I met (SFA chief executive) Gordon Smith on Thursday and we talked through the arrangements at Cameron House and the events leading up to the game,” Burley said.

“We knew we had to make sure what happened would never happen again and also we really wanted to draw a line under it. At that stage, I hadn’t really seen any papers or watched the match again. When I did, I realised we needed to speak again.

Burley added: “The gestures had clearly made a lot of people very angry and this was obviously something completely different to the incidents at Cameron House.

“We talked again first thing on Friday morning and Gordon, George Peat and myself were in agreement about what needed to be done.”

Image via Independent