Pavel has been through the wars. Mental and physical. He apologised profusely for his blunders in a match between Slavia Prague and Mlada Boleslav (penalties, free-kicks, offsides, red cards – a smorgasbord of crimes that made Mike McCurry look like Pierluigi Collina) but he still got suspended (for six matches) and still got his head squashed by hooligans. He reckons the cock-ups and the kicking were unconnected. Hmm, his judgment might be a trifle flawed on that one, too, we fear.

Now he's got to officiate at a Scotland game. The Tartan Army and our football press won't beat him up but we reserve the right to give him the greatest verbal shoeing of his career if he gets things wrong in Skopje. There's an awful lot riding on that match, a match that Scotland dare not lose. You saw what happened to the last whistler who took charge of Scotland in a critical game. Manuel Gonzalez was his name.

Gonzalez was declared the greatest cheat in the game today, the man solely responsible for Scotland not qualifying for Euro 2008. For awarding a free-kick against Alan Hutton against Italy. Away on the touchline. After he'd already given Scotland a present of a goal that should never have been and disallowing an Italian goal that was perfectly legal. The point here is that perspective isn't long in going out the window when it comes to disappointments in Scottish football.

Pavel will feel the pressure, no doubt, but he could be worse off. He could be George Burley. We don't really know how Burley feels about things but he wouldn't be human if he wasn't getting a little anxious. We don't know because Burley doesn't give much away. He's not like Walter Smith or Alex McLeish. Not open and giving. That's his right. But three games into the job and we still know precious little about what makes the guy tick.

We don't know what it is he has. Clearly, he has something, some quality that has kept him in management all these years. The Hearts lads raved about him in his brief spell at Tynecastle and no wonder. The results were never better. But they couldn't exactly put their finger on his great strength as a coach. Beyond generalisms, they seemed pretty much at a loss to explain it, too.

Is it tactical? Nothing he's done with Scotland would indicate he's above the ordinary there. But, in fairness, all we've had so far are some phoney wars. The real thing is about to happen in a fortnight when Scotland visit Macedonia and Iceland without Barry Ferguson and almost certainly without Alan Hutton. Best case scenario is that a semi-fit Hutton travels and you have to wonder what use he would be. Macedonia have troubled better teams than Scotland, home and away, in the last two years. In the heat of Skopje it's going to be a massive test of Burley's nerve and skill.

His trick? Oratory wouldn't appear to be it either. His dealings with the press are uninspiring. Sometimes downright dull. Sometimes excruciating, like when he's getting the names of his players wrong, "Christian" Berra instead of Christophe, "Ken" McNaughton instead of Kevin. Is it just in press conferences he makes these blunders or is he doing a Bobby Robson in the dressing room, too? If so, what do the players make of this? Does any of this matter?

It's hard to reconcile the gushing words of praise a sensible fella like Paul Hartley has uttered about Burley and the man himself, who seems unremarkable. And attempts to unlock the secret fall on deaf ears. A few months back we applied for an interview with the Scotland manager. About a fortnight later we got a reply from his press man saying he'd only just seen the e-mail request and that he'd get right on it. We're still waiting. Maybe that's because Burley doesn't want the intrusion or because of something else (it would be nice to be told) but either way he keeps himself tucked away at Hampden as much as possible.

He's quite cosseted now, so much so you wonder if he appreciates the gathering storm heading his way should things turn bad in Skopje. Already the drums are beating in places. The reaction to the Northern Ireland game on Wednesday was resoundingly and, in places, hysterically negative. This was a friendly. A pretty lifeless friendly but a friendly all the same. How can you be judged on such nights? Would Smith and McLeish have been written off with such gusto had their Scotland team been on the park that night? Would Berti Vogts have been thrown in their faces the way he was on Thursday morning in places?

After just three games – a defeat against a vastly superior Czech Republic, an honourable draw with Croatia and a soulless stalemate with Northern Ireland – the comparison was a harsh and unjustifiable one. Should Burley be worried about a mass-circulation tabloid getting on his case? Yes and no. After all, a reader poll in another red top after the Northern Ireland match showed support levels of 74% for Burley. That's a telling number.

He's doing the job his way and good luck to him. No fair mind will judge him on three games but plenty will make the call once Macedonia and Iceland are out of the way. Whatever he is doing in his bunker at Hampden you hope it involves a cunning plot to bring about the downfall of Scotland's first two opponents. It would be a nice time for him to show what he's actually made of.