Some of Scotland's players were "too thick" to understand George Burley's coaching methods, according to the sacked manager's nephew, Craig.

Craig, who earned 46 caps for his country between 1995 and 2003, also claimed some of the squad were not good enough but was not surprised his uncle was given the chop by the Scottish Football Association last night.

The dismissal came in the wake of Saturday's 3-0 friendly defeat in Wales, and Craig told talkSPORT: "I'm not shocked at all. Wales was a disastrous result.

"It's not as if we were playing England or Brazil or France, it was Wales and it was unacceptable from the manager's and players' point of view.

"I don't think what he wanted to do got across to some players and also I think some of them are too thick to take it on board and not good enough to take it on board anyway, to be perfectly honest with you.

"But he can look at most of the players in the eye and ask if they did a good job for him and I don't think there are many, if any, who can say, 'Yes, I did'.

"So he hasn't been able to get the players to perform for him, he hasn't been able to get them to understand what he wants, the right formation and right results, and, at the end of the day, that's all that matters."

A total of 52 players featured for Scotland while Burley was in charge, one of whom was Norwich midfielder Stephen Hughes.

Hughes, who Burley handed a full debut against Japan last month, believes the former Ipswich manager was a victim of SFA dithering.

He told the Norwich Evening News: "I do feel sorry for him but it's football I suppose. He's probably old enough and experienced enough to know that's the way it works and it's a results business.

"But he's probably feeling a bit let down by the SFA that they gave him their word to go ahead and then sacked him. That's the way of the world, it's the way football goes and I'm sure he'll bounce back and get into work somewhere else.

"It's strange because I don't know why they gave him the backing two games ago to take us into the next campaign. It was a disappointing result against Wales but the SFA sort of make things hard for themselves.

"It's done now but it's probably a bit harsh because you can't give him the job to take us forward and then sack him a couple of months into it. That's the way they've done it now and hopefully they can get somebody in they'll stick by."

Hibernian boss John Hughes told the Edinburgh Evening News: "I really do feel sorry for George.
He's a man I like and have great respect for.

"I also know he's a right good football coach but, unfortunately, these sort of things go with the territory and it was a bad performance (against Wales)."

Hughes, who claimed he was "delighted" his name had not been linked with the vacancy, threw his weight behind Kilmarnock's Jim Jefferies as the man to replace Burley.

"I am delighted that he's in the running," he said.

"I think being the Scotland manager would suit Jim, to tell you the truth. He's a man who always gets his team playing with a bit of spirit and has great experience, having been there and done it."

Burley's rugby counterpart, Andy Robinson, whose first game in charge co-incided with Burley's final match at the helm, told Press Association Sport: "All coaches, all managers, you put yourself up there, whether you're coaching an international team or club sides.

"It's a tough time for him now.

"He's a good man, good coach; it's unfortunate when these things happen."