History of the Scotland national football team left Scotland managerless with just over two months until the next matches against Georgia and Italy. Former Rangers manager Alex McLeish was hotly tipped and supported by Alex Ferguson to become the new manager, although long-term Scotland assistant manager Tommy Burns was also thought to be in the running. McLeish was appointed while Burns was not even approached, which caused Burns to resign from his position. Alex McLeish was appointed Scotland manager on 29 January 2007, and he hired Roy Aitken and Andy Watson as his assistants. McLeish's first match in charge was a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Georgia
Culture of Scotland the Gaelic festival of Samhain, when the Gaels believed the border between this world and the otherworld became thin, and the dead would revisit the mortal world. In 1780, Dumfries poet John Mayne noted Halloween pranks: ""What fearfu' pranks ensue!"", as well as the supernatural associations of that night, ""Bogies"" (ghosts). The bard of Scotland Robert Burns' 1785 poem "Halloween" is recited by Scots at Halloween, and Burns was influenced by Mayne's composition. In Scotland, traditional Halloween customs include: Guising — children in costume going from door to door demanding food or coins — which became established practice by the