Rubiales sets the tone for Maxwell
NO-NONSENSE SPANIARD IS A HARD ACT WHO MUST BE FOLLOWED
TAKE note, Ian Maxwell. This is how you can lead a national association. This is how you can restore a sense of importance and respect to a national team set-up demeaned and sullied by a simple lack of care. This is how you make your mark.
Luis Rubiales has been in his job just as long as you. He was voted in as Spanish federation president four days before you started as chief executive of the SFA last month.
Just like you, he was a solid, if unspectacular, player with a good reputation. Just like you, he is now fronting up an anachronistic organisation clogged up with dead wood, political in-fighting and concerns over the influence of certain clubs.
It is time for you to show you can be just like him. And nothing like the other charmless, cowardly, self-serving politicians passing for leaders in our national sport.
It says much about the warped nature of modern football that there has been such a division of opinion over Rubiales’ sacking of Spain’s head coach Julen Lopetegui following the despicable way in which his defection to Real Madrid was announced on the eve of the World Cup — and just three weeks after he had signed a new contract.
Lopetegui acted shamefully and the fact Rubiales refused to be overpowered by an influential coach and a powerful club is to his credit. Much has been said of late about the 40-year-old’s short stay at Hamilton Accies back in 2009, but it is hardly the most interesting point of the backstory.
Rubiales, a law student, went on to become the head of the Spanish players’ union, the AFE, the following year and revolutionised what had been a pretty lifeless organisation from the get-go.
He called the first strike in 27 years over demands to have a fund set up to guarantee the payment of players’ wages and impose sanctions on clubs that did not comply. He struck a deal for a percentage of TV money to be paid to the AFE to improve working conditions. He brought women in as full members and built up a fund to help footballers who have hit hard times.
He has already set out his plans for a national FA that will be transparent, will promote the women’s game and represent all interests. He is a firebrand and has established a reputation as a man of principle. Taking a stand over Lopetegui is also seen as informing Real president Florentino Perez that he will not be bullied or influenced by anyone. It is certainly what the Spanish federation needs following the 30-year reign of Angel Maria Villar, arrested on suspicion of corruption last year. You could argue it is what the Scottish FA, an organisation creaking at the seams, needs as well. And yet, many doubts and questions remain over Maxwell and those behind him. His unveiling was spent arguing that he is not a puppet for the big clubs who want to control the game and denying his appointment was part of a carve-up that involved SFA vice-president Rod Petrie being allowed to bring in Alex McLeish.
Whatever the truth, it is almost impossible to accept that the positions of Scotland boss and SFA chief executive — two of the game’s most important jobs — were filled after an exhaustive assessment of all the very best people available.
Add to this the rumblings of discontent over Celtic’s influence. Former St Mirren chairman Stewart Gilmour insists Parkhead CEO Peter Lawwell runs the game. Recent moves by Rangers suggest they agree and they have got SPFL chairman Murdoch MacLennan roped into the mess.
Yet, other than insisting that he is not some kind of placeman, there remains no real sign of what Maxwell’s overarching vision is.
Of course, his position is much different from that of Rubiales. He doesn’t have the power to fire a manager, for a start. That’s the board’s job. Rubiales has made enemies, none more so than at the Spanish League, while Maxwell needs to build bridges after seeing his predecessor Stewart Regan fall, largely because of that very issue.
Yet, there are many things he can take from Rubiales. Like establishing a clear value system within the FA. Like the protection and promotion of the national team as a cherished, magical institution rather than an ugly, downtrodden cousin of the club game.
The Scottish national team is in a shabby state. There is no sponsor. The SFA doesn’t even have a new TV contract. The previous regime allowed Celtic’s captain Scott Brown to pick and choose the games he could be bothered turning up for and that is no way to foster a sense of something special in the jersey.
No one should be allowed to feel they are doing us some kind of favour by turning up. The moneygrabbing summer tour of Peru and Mexico didn’t help — with a threadbare squad being stripped by call-offs and a haphazard approach to recruiting replacements.
Squad members flying out from Glasgow Airport in hoodies and T-shirts rather than SFA uniform looked bad. It’s not that long ago that the national squad found themselves queuing up at Tbilisi airport with the punters to get a post-match meal out of Burger King because their plane was stuck elsewhere.
At least sports science, detailed analysis and the Oriam performance centre seem to be playing a role in McLeish’s set-up in the wake of ex-coach Gordon Strachan’s intransigence, but there is a long way to go.
The women’s side reached the European Championship finals for the first time last year, but what should have been a wonderful, well-promoted springboard was damaged by an unseemly row over the players’ terms and conditions as it was about to start.
Hampden is a sub-standard home. Without really explaining why taking games around the country is not an option, the SFA appear to have gerrymandered a situation where Queen’s Park will have to sell it on the cheap or be blamed for the ludicrous concept of pouring money into Scottish rugby to rent out Murrayfield.
If the SFA do take over the stadium, though, it cannot stop there. Parts must be rebuilt. It has to become a venue to worship at again rather than the ill-conceived embarrassment still tarnished by the financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest and government bail-outs of yesteryear.
You don’t have to be firing the manager to make a statement. Small changes can combine to create a wider message. But we need a leader who will speak his mind and take public stances. Rubiales is up for re-election in 2020 and may well pay for his approach, but he is trying to create an association for the people.
What do we have? At the SPFL, MacLennan refuses to talk to anyone about anything and Neil Doncaster is an automaton that supporters have wisely stopped listening to. At the SFA, president Alan McRae and Petrie continue to cling on like limpets, conspicuous by their absence from all public debate despite the fact the AGM was held earlier this month.
It can be dangerous to take a stand in Scottish football, but Maxwell badly needs to prove he is his own man and putting the national team back at the heart of the game is an easy place to start.
‘We are obliged to make decisions based on our values,’ said Rubiales when defending his actions this week. ‘We might look weak now, but we will be stronger in the long run.’
It is the essence of leadership. And it is what we are crying out for here.