4058: Scotland Manager; The Candida
by : Stephen Orford
Walter Smith’s decision to quit as manager of Scotland in favour of a return to Rangers has sparked a legal row, but of more pressing concern to the Scottish Football Association should be the task of finding a replacement.
In two short years in charge Smith has helped drag the Scots back up the world rankings, and leaves the side sitting top of Euro 2008 qualifying Group B. Victory over France in October shocked the football world, and offered hope to long suffering Scots that their team could once again make qualifying for major tournaments a regular occurrence.
Yet the picture could soon look altogether less tickety-boo if the SFA do not appoint the right successor to Smith. The dismal tenure of Berti Vogts shows just how vital it is to have the right man at the helm. The trouble is, Smith’s departure shows also how difficult it will be to persuade the top names to swap their current activities for a shot at restoring pride in the Tartan Army. Here, Squarefootball takes a look at some of those names and considers who might want the top job north of the border. Oh, apart from the Rangers hot-seat that is. And the one at Celtic. Probably.
Alex McLeish - The former Aberdeen defender has much in common with Smith, in that he has already presided over a successful spell in charge at Rangers. He led the Gers to seven trophies in a four-year spell and can lay claim to becoming the first manager to lead a Scottish club to the knockout stages of the Champions League. That is if you believe, as a certain television company does, that football did not exist before 1992. Out of the game since being replaced at Ibrox at the end of last season, McLeish is therefore an obvious favourite for the post.
Tommy Burns - Having been part of the backroom staff under Smith, Burns is the man if the SFA wish to promote from within. Yet spells as number one at both Reading and Celtic ended with acrimonious dismissals, indicating that Burns is best utilised as an assistant. Burns may be retained in his current capacity as a coach, a role which he also performs for Celtic under Gordon Strachan.
Graeme Souness - A legendary player at Liverpool, Souness’ collection of clubs as a manager inspires many a lame golf gag. His last miserable effort at Newcastle United was among the most awful, although he presided over one of the worst periods in the history of Liverpool almost 15 years earlier. Oh the irony. On the plus side, he laid the foundations at Rangers upon which Smith built so successfully in the 1990’s, and there is a school of thought which suggests that the favour will be returned in relation to the national side. Currently involved in a bid to take over ownership of Wolverhampton Wanderers, it may be that Souness has finally decided that management is not for him. Not before time.
Kenny Dalglish - Every time a managerial vacancy appears there is someone willing to throw the name of Dalglish into the mix. So if you can’t beat them, join them. Or something. The very definition of a cheque-book manager at Blackburn Rovers in the mid 1990’s, Dalglish did build one great Liverpool side in the late 1980’s before resigning in 1991. Unsuccessful spells at Newcastle United and Celtic followed his Ewood Park reign, and memories of both surely rule him out of the running.
Billy Davies - This is more like it. Not popular in Preston, but Davies has proven at both North End and Derby County that he is among the more progressive young managers around. Yet if Smith finds scrapping around behind Celtic in the SPL a more valuable use of his time, what chance of Davies forsaking a shot at promotion from the Championship to become Scotland boss? Not much.
David Moyes - Slightly more popular in Preston, Moyes has spent the last five years inducing equal measures of joy and despair among Evertonians. Indeed, it was Moyes who replaced Smith at Goodison Park and so the possibility of him doing so again provides lazy hacks like myself with a rather obvious link. Yet Moyes seems about as likely to return to Scotland as Sean Connery so long as there is a job for him on Merseyside.
Seven hundred words later and it seems that we are no nearer to finding out the identity of the next Scotland manager. It probably won’t be Sir Alex Ferguson or George Graham, while Vogts and Sven Goran Eriksson need not keep the mobile too handy either.
Does anybody want to be Scotland manager?
By Stephen Orford
11 January 2007
