Vogts steps down as Scotland coach

'Disgraceful abuse'
Vogts left the role of Kuwait coach to become Scotland's first foreign manager in March 2002 but now leaves citing the "disgraceful abuse" from a "tiny majority" of Scottish supporters as a principal reason for his departure. In a farewell statement, the German said he had been spat on by supporters.

Disappointing start
Vogts, who was Germany's victorious coach at EURO '96™, had his resignation accepted by the board of the Scottish Football Association, who will meet on Thursday to discuss his successor, with former Rangers FC and Everton FC manager Walter Smith the favourite to replace him. The German's position had been the subject of intense debate after Scotland's disappointing start to their 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign.

Home loss
The Scots are effectively out of contention in Group 5 after taking two points from their opening three games against Slovenia, Norway and Moldova. The 1-0 defeat by Norway at Hampden Park last month was their first home loss in World Cup qualifying since 1985.

Disgusted
In a statement today, Vogts, 57, said the abuse he had received from some disgruntled supporters had "degenerated" recently. He said: "This is not acceptable behaviour in a civilised society and I know that the vast majority of Scots will join me in my disgust at this act by a very tiny minority."

High point
The high point of Vogts' tenure came in November last year when the Scots beat the Netherlands 1-0 at Hampden in the first leg of their qualifying play-off for UEFA EURO 2004™. However, they lost the return match in Amsterdam 6-0.

Defended by Souness
Despite disappointing results and criticism from the press, Vogts had received support from the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and Graeme Souness, the latter recently describing the current Scotland squad as "the least talented group of players that any Scotland manager has had to work with".