LAWWELL’S POINTED SNUB FOR MEN AT THE TOP

PETER LAWWELL last night waded into the SFA managerial row by taking a thinly-veiled swipe at Rod Petrie and Alan McRae for their part in the ongoing fiasco. The day after Walter Smith followed Michael O’Neill in rejecting the governing body’s advances, the Celtic chief executive laid the blame for the four-month hunt for Gordon Strachan’s successor squarely on the doorstep of the president and vice-president. Lawwell stopped short of naming the pair — but, by praising everyone else on the now seven-person SFA board apart from them and Amateur FA representative Thomas McKeown, it left little room for doubt as to who he thought was responsible for the current situation. ‘I came off the board a couple of years ago and, from the outside looking in, clearly there are problems and the problems appear to be significant,’ said Lawwell. ‘It seems that Stewart Regan has taken the rap for that in terms of the changes over the past couple of weeks. ‘I think there are others in there who have presided over the SFA for a number of years that really need to look at themselves just now as well. ‘I don’t think there’s any value personalising but clearly there are issues that need to be addressed. ‘On the other hand I think there are positives because there’s a board there with very capable people like Mike Mulraney who represents the clubs alongside Ian Maxwell. ‘There are independent non-executives in Gary Hughes and Ana Stewart who are capable people. ‘I think it’s now time for these guys to be given a bit more authority to (allow the public) to actually understand what is the purpose of the SFA in the modern game. ‘What is the purpose of the SFA and how does that relate to the SPFL and the clubs?’ Facing a grilling from the board last week over his inability to nail down Northern Ireland manager O’Neill after a lengthy pursuit, Regan quit his post after eight years. Chief operating officer Andrew McKinlay stepped into Regan’s shoes only to be appointed the new chief executive of Scottish Golf. With three senior positions at Hampden now vacant and the SFA’s credibility now at an all-time low, Lawwell feels the time is right for significant structural change. ‘I think there should be a process of restructuring and reorganising that allows the SFA to be fit for that purpose,’ he continued. ‘There are a lot of good staff in the SFA and we engage with them. There are a lot of good people in there. ‘So that’s another positive. There is an opportunity here now for everyone to sit down, look at what it (SFA) should be doing, look at what’s gone wrong, learn lessons and move on.’