Mystery remains over delay in replacing Kerr
ALTHOUGH it has arrived under the radar, the draw for 2023 World Cup qualifying will be held in Nyon on Friday. The 51 European nations involved will be placed in nine groups of five or six teams.
Scotland are ranked fifth of the second seeds. Yet, and despite this being the planet’s most important football tournament, there will be no head coach to share thoughts on the draw, nor indeed to negotiate the fixtures after it has been made.
Yet, remarkably and worryingly, the Scottish FA continue to show not the slightest urgency to replace Shelley Kerr. It is now just over four months since she stepped down, and since then the players have been left in limbo.
Compare and contrast with April 2017 when the nation was anticipating the first appearance of the women’s team at a major championship. Not only was Anna Signeul still in post until the end of the Euros, but Kerr had already been appointed as her successor.
On that occasion the SFA went through the formalities of filling the post in a thorough and professional manner – despite Kerr being almost assured of the job.
This time? With no preferred candidate in sight, the vacancy hasn’t even been advertised, far less a recruitment company engaged.
Again, back in 2017, Kerr had the advantage of taking her players to Hungary for a friendly prior to World Cup qualifying starting the following month. This time the new head coach’s first game could well be the opening World Cup qualifier in September.
The SFA say there will almost certainly be friendlies in the June international window, but no guarantee of an appointment being made by then. That, presumably, would mean one of their employees being seconded to take charge of the side, just as men’s Under-16 coach Stuart McLaren was for the final two Euro qualifiers in February.
Wales, who also failed to qualify for the Euros – they were in the same group and seeded higher than Northern Ireland – lost head coach Jayne Ludlow in January. She was replaced in March by Gemma Grainger, who then got the chance to familiarise herself with the squad when Wales played Canada and Denmark in friendlies this month.
Grainger will also have the opportunity to try to shape the World Cup qualifying games to Wales’ best advantage after the draw. Scotland will be represented by national team administrator Alex Ralton, with the new head of girls’ and women’s football, Fiona McIntyre, likely to be charged with the negotiations.
Only the SFA board and chief executive Ian Maxwell know why it is taking so long to find Kerr’s successor. They are, of course, fully occupied with the more important matter of the men’s qualification for the Euros, while continued savings on a women’s head coach salary wouldn’t enter their heads.
WEDNESDAY night’s televised Scottish Building Society SWPL1 match between Celtic and Rangers was an absorbing spectacle.
The game being staged at Celtic Park was an obvious plus, and there was a real sting in the tail when, despite the visitors having had by far the best of the chances, Mariah Lee scored the only goal 10 minutes from time.
As Rangers head coach Malky Thomson pointed out, goalkeeper Jenna Fife, who ran out of her box in a vain attempt to clear the ball, was far from being alone in bearing responsibility for Celtic’s winner.
The result throws Celtic, who host Hibernian this afternoon, a much needed lifeline. They stay five points behind Glasgow City, but only two behind Rangers – and one or both of the two leaders will drop points when they meet each other in a fortnight.
Celtic beat Hibs the last time they played, but the 6-2 scoreline was no reflection of a well-contested game.
The Edinburgh side announced a third pre-contract summer signing in midweek, with American Toni Malone due to arrive from FC Wacker Innsbruck in Austria.
“We’ve been talking to Toni since December,” head coach Dean Gibson said. “We didn’t have a re-start date for the season so we didn’t think it fair to bring her over earlier.
“She’s a left-sided player and if you’re comparing styles she’s probably close to JamieLee Napier, quick, wants to play on the front foot, quite aggressive.”
The vacancy hasn’t even been advertised
IT was confirmed last night that Rangers striker Kirsty Howat ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in a non-contact incident only 11 minutes into the Celtic match. It’s desperate news for the 23-year-old, who moved from Glasgow City in November and has become an important player for her new side.