Kenny Dalglish hopes Gordon Strachan is rewarded for the "guts" and "heart" he showed in continuing as Scotland boss.
Strachan's future came under scrutiny after consecutive 3-0 defeats left Scotland in fifth place in Group F of Europe's World Cup qualifiers, but both he and the Scottish Football Association decided to carry on into Sunday's visit of Slovenia.
And Dalglish believes his former Scotland team-mate deserves a break.
Scotland's record cap holder said: "I don't think the SFA were wavering, were they? And I don't think Gordon was wavering.
"People like to apportion blame, and it's usually the case that the manager is going to cop it.
"But I don't think anybody could have done a better job than what wee Gordon has done so far.
"Whether he wants to maintain the role was put in question and he certainly poured cold water over the fire for that one. He certainly came out very strongly.
"And by the way it just shows you how passionate he is. There are a lot of people with less guts and less heart that would have maybe walked away, and maybe less belief in the players would have walked away. So good luck to him."
Scotland missed out on Euro 2016 after defeat by Georgia, combined with Poland and Republic of Ireland's victories over Germany, saw them finish fourth.
Their form has worsened but Dalglish is encouraged by the number of Scots now playing in the top flight in England.
The former Celtic and Liverpool hero, who was promoting the 2017 McDonald's Grassroots Awards, added: "There's a few Scottish players in recent years that have started playing in the Premier League that we never had before. You go through the teams and there are one or two in there, and that's progress from where we were.
"The more players you have got playing at a high level, the better chance you have got with getting results as a national team.
"It has been disappointing, I think everyone would admit that, and there will be nobody more disappointed than Gordon. But I think it's moving forward.
"Slowly, but it is moving forward."
Source: PA
