IT’S TIME FOR THE REAL MACKAY
WITH financial restrictions in place thanks to the crimes by dastardly regimes of old, managing Rangers to catch up with Champions League-rich Celtic right now might be considered Scottish football’s impossible job. That, however, would be news to Mark Warburton. That’s because everywhere the Ibrox manager turns to discuss the ills of the game here he is informed that the impossible job in this country is, in fact, the current vacancy of Performance Director at the Scottish Football Association.
‘It’s all I ever hear,’ said Warburton. ‘That’s what everyone tells me. I’ve heard it from 50 people. I heard it from someone the other day. They told me: “That job is impossible. At boardroom level, grassroots level”.
‘Actually, that is just nonsense. I cannot have people telling me that it’s impossible to fix, saying that there’s no chance of this or that happening. I can’t have it. I just shake my head when I hear people saying there are no good candidates out there.’
Mark Wotte, the first appointment by chief executive Stewart Regan, would be able to explain to Warburton that club opposition to the funding of his ideas were a chief reason why his reign ended after three years.
Brian McClair departed in July complaining of his failure to make a significant difference to the pathway of young Scottish talent.
Warburton would love to see the defeatism holding Scottish football back to be drummed out. For selfinterest to be less significant.
Now that he is firmly established in Glasgow, 18 months into his revamping of Rangers, Warburton would like to see a friendly face charged with forcing through the necessary changes at national association level. That man, for him, is Malky Mackay.
The 44-year-old former Celtic defender possesses the profile, says Warburton, for tackling the issues that have damaged the progress of our game and young Scottish footballers in recent decades.
‘I know Malky very well,’ said Warburton (below), head of Watford’s youth academy when Mackay took over at Vicarage Road from Brendan Rodgers in 2009. ‘He’s a man steeped in football. He’s also got a good business brain, as he started working in banking early on.
‘He’s a great communicator on and off the pitch and he’s a proven winner. Thinking back to the various teams he played for, from Celtic right the way through — West Ham, Watford and Norwich — he’s won four or five promotions.
He’s given youth a chance. I remember at Watford he had to slash the wage bill quite dramatically.
‘There were tough times at the club at that time. I was in the academy. He brought a lot of players from the academy, which was good for me.
‘Malky believes in youth. He is brave enough to give youth a chance and he knows the standard required, which is really important.
‘Look at Malky’s CV. Don’t forget what he did at Watford. Then with Cardiff, he took them to the League Cup Final and lost to Liverpool only on penalty kicks. Right at the death that was a game they could have won.
‘He was promoted out of the toughest division in the world, as champions, in to the Premier League with Cardiff. And he was never in the bottom four with Cardiff, which is a magnificent achievement. If he got the job it would be a fantastic step in the right direction for Scottish football.
‘He’s progressive. He gets his message across really well. I’m sure there is more than one good candidate but, for my mind, if Malky got the job it would be a fantastic step in the right direction for Scottish football.’
Dutchman Wotte, now working for the Moroccan FA, complained that his efforts to successfully execute the performance strategy was increasingly undermined by clubs challenging the amount of money diverted to his youth improvement projects.
‘If people are blocking progress, if there’s a stubborn and selfish interest at play, then the game is never going to go forward,’ said Warburton. ‘You keep hearing “that club won’t have it” and “this club won’t accept it”.
‘The game has got to get better and sometimes there might be pain along the way. You want someone for the job who has an edge to them. You can’t be the perfect diplomat all the time. Sometimes you need an edge to push things through.
‘You need someone to go in there with a hammer and get things done. If people are blocking it, then get rid of them. That is what you have to do. There are good people out there and Malky is certainly one of them.
‘I have no doubt he would do an outstanding job because he is passionate and wants to make change. He’s a leader. I know Malky could absolutely make a difference.’
By Fraser Mackie He is so passionate about the game and wants to make change