GLF 54: Graham looks at the international scene
SCOTLAND MANAGER
It’s hardly a surprise that Berti Vogts is no longer the Scotland manager given his recent record and his shambolic mutterings after those recent defeats, particularly the Slovenia and Norway games.
The major surprise is that it took over two weeks after the Norway defeat for him to leave the post,whether he jumped or was pushed.This says more about the fools running our game than it does about Berti himself.
With a bit of imagination they could have removed him from the job straight after the Norway game and appointed the popular choice of manager just as tickets for the friendly against Sweden became available.This would have meant that this game could have been kept at Hampden with a full house ( which would have helped pay off Vogts ) rather than move to Easter Road under the equally discredited Tommy Burns.
Burns is an enigma for me,as I am unsure what his role has actually been through the 2.5 years of Vogts' reign.Was he a sounding board ?Did he advise of the Scottish Scene ?Did he ever stand up to him ?It would appear that he did none of these and all he seemed to do was act as Vogts runner at the touchline given that the technical area at Hampden is so far away from the touchline.
The SFA needs to have a good look at itself and perform a root and branch review of how it works.I said in the Kilmarnock programme that a modern business cannot be run by committee and needs to be run in a way that allows faster responses to situations like this.
This would mean getting rid of all the guys who aspire to the SFA blazer should be swept away and a “ proper ” Chief Executive and Board of Directors put in place to run the organisation like any other.None of this seems like rocket science to me but I guess it would blow the minds of the suits at Hampden.
As I write this it appears that there is no need to rush to appoint a new manager,even though for me it made sense that a new manager should have had the chance to run the rule over the players in preparation for the Sweden game ahead of the Italy game in March.
Appointing a new manager after the Sweden game means that he now has to go into the game without ever seeing his players take part in any kind of meaningful game.Ah well,I am sure that everything will turn out for the best and we’ll soon be rising back up the FIFA rankings back to where we belong ( I’ll leave that number up to you….. ).
Graham Barnstaple
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