For Scottish FA chief executive Stewart Regan, the failure to secure Michael O’Neill as the national team manager proved to be costly. Two weeks later, he resigned from his post with immediate effect under pressure from the governing body’s board. O’Neill was the one and only candidate for the job and the failure to lure the Northern Ireland boss was damning.
Even more damning, though, has been the response to that failure. Scotland are now direction-less, demonstrated by the fact that Walter Smith briefly rose to the top of the shortlist of candidates for the job. This is the same Walter Smith who is now 70 years old and who hasn’t held an active job in football since he left Rangers seven years ago.
The argument being put forward is that, having been Scotland manager previously Smith would be a safe pair of hands. But that was over a decade ago. For all his achievements in the game, Smith is a relic of a bygone age. His appointment would be symptomatic of the problems that are currently being suffered at the top of the Scottish game.
Put simply, Scottish football lacks imagination at executive level. Even the identification of O’Neill didn’t take much thinking outside the box, with the Northern Irishman already living in Edinburgh. Now that the Scottish FA, with its antiquated board, are being asked to come up with new names, they have simply turned to the most convenient candidate possible.
Even more embarrassing is that reports suggest Smith is unhappy with the length of time being taken to make an official approach. This is how the Scottish FA lost O’Neill, taking too long to start discussions, allowing the Northern Irish FA the chance to prepare a counter-deal of their own. Smith isn’t even in work, yet they still can’t seem to lure him.
Ever since the appointment of Berti Vogts 15 years ago, Scottish football has struggled due to its insular outlook. Vogts, for some reason, is still referenced as a warning to those daring enough to look outside Scotland’s borders for a national team manager, as if the failure of one coach means no other foreign coach could possibly succeed there. What’s more, Vogts actually took Scotland further (to a World Cup play-off) than any other manager since.
Without a chief executive, without a national team manager and maybe even without a national stadium, as the debate over the future Hampden continues, the Scottish FA are not in a good way right now. They need a clear decision-making process to get them out of this mess. A decision-making process that doesn’t lead to the appointment of Smith as Scotland manager.
