McLeish in blast at SFA over lack of progress
FORMER first minster Henry McLeish claimed the SFA was “old-fashioned” and “decades behind” as he launched a scathing attack on the governing body.
McLeish is disappointed by the lack of radical change in the game despite his 2011 review’s 103 recommendations, leading to the publication of Scotland United: A 2020 Vision.
The men’s national team, ranked 50th in the world ahead of next month’s Euro play-off semi-final against Israel, have still not qualified for a major tournament since 1998.
Only the women’s team, who qualified for last summer’s World Cup finals in France, appear to be heading in the right direction.
McLeish, whose own career at East Fife was cut short by injury, is also frustrated his plans for regional academies have not materialised.
In an interview with the BBC, McLeish said: “There have been some minor successes but we really haven’t achieved the goals that were set out It’s a question of attitude and I come back to this point I’ve constantly stressed – the SFA structure is still old-fashioned.
“It’s decades behind and if you look at some of the more promising countries, they’re going massively forward and it’s all about investment in elite talent. On the national side I don’t think much progress has been made at all.”
On the men’s team, who have had eight permanent managers, including Steve Clarke, since Craig Brown led them to the World Cup in France, McLeish added: “Over the last 22 years we got rid of a lot of managers with no improvement in results.
“We’ve got the same board set-up where you appear as vice-president and jump into being president (Rod Petrie became president last year after eight years as vice president). It’s how things were run 40, 50, 60 years ago.
“If a manager like Gordon Strachan, who was an excellent manager, is sacked because of the results on the field how do we hold to account the SFA president, vice-president and board?”
McLeish also believes the SFA, with Ian Maxwell as chief executive and Malky Mackay as performance director, should take a more hands-on role developing players.
He added: “They’re responsible for the national side, not the clubs, there’s too much of an overlap. I’d like to see radical change with more people from the outside on the SFA board, fewer people from the SPFL.
“While performance schools have done their part, I wanted to see a set of regional academies introduced throughout Scotland.
“We’ve fallen back on this old idea only big clubs – the Rangers, the Celtics, the Hearts, the Hibs, the Aberdeens – can produce talent for the national side.”