What we learned from Scotland v Macedonia There is no leadership at the Scottish Football Association If the omni-shambles concerning Rangers past and present hadn't already confirmed this in the minds of most sentient Scottish football supporters, final proof will emerge this week when no-one at Hampden will seize the initiative and terminate Levein's contract. The fact that the national team is now staring at 18 years" (and counting) exile from major tournaments is depressing enough but the crowd for Tuesday's match against Macedonia was the lowest for a World Cup qualifier for 11 years. Anyone expecting an increase when Wales come to Glasgow in March probably believes that the moon is made of green cheese. And that Scotland can win all eight of their remaining ties. Allan McGregor has made himself indispensable Just as he did against Serbia on Saturday, the Besiktas goalkeeper saved Scotland from defeat with crucial saves at crucial times. Considering his availability had been in doubt after he suffered a groin strain during last month's challenge match against Australia, his performances in both matches were all the more remarkable. Unfortunately, the dark side of his nature (cf his V-signs in the wake of Boozegate) emerged once again when he foolishly kicked out at Filip Ivanovski in the 24th minute, with Scotland already a goal down. Had the Russian referee spotted it, he would have conceded a penalty kick and received a red card. The team must play to the strengths of individuals Levein spoke beforehand about the need for width to overcome the narrowness of Macedonia's shape. Yet, after selecting Celtic winger James Forrest, it took half an hour before the 21-year-old was supplied with an opportunity to run at his marker and another 12 minutes before he was given a second bite. Too often square pegs are forced into round holes: Jamie Mackie, whose preferred position is as a central striker, was deployed in midfield against the Macedonians and it was only by instinctively moving into his natural role that he was able to set up Kenny Miller's goal. A change is as good as a rest One of several dubious points made by Gary Caldwell after Tuesday's match was his assertion that: "If you change the manager, nothing else is going to change." Leaving aside the fact that doesn't exactly constitute a rousing defence, it's also palpably untrue. One need only go back to 2004, when Walter Smith replaced bungling Berti Vogts, to give the lie to that. Not only was improvement immediate, it was sustained and, when Alex McLeish replaced Smith in 2007, Scotland's results became better still, taking the national team to 14 in the Fifa rankings. Quite coincidentally, both of those managers are currently out of work. As are Gordon Strachan and Joe Jordan. Just, you know, saying.