By GARY KEOWN
Published: | Updated:
Ian Maxwell spent his first media call as Scottish FA chief executive arguing that he hadn’t been put in place by some behind-doors stitch-up and wouldn’t be used as a puppet by anyone.
More than eight years on, he’s back facing accusations of being some sort of toothless poodle after being thrown under the bus by Steve Clarke.
It’s why he really needs his call for a revamp of the rules regarding the use of Scotland-eligible Under-21 players to be voted through and his ambitious appointment of Sebastien Pocognoli as national team coach to work out.
Otherwise, some serious questions are going to have to be asked about his time at the helm of the national association.
Clarke’s revelations, made during a Q&A event arranged by Spartans, over his contractual position ahead of the World Cup have been discussed in depth since they became public knowledge last weekend.
They don’t show him in a good light but they most definitely make the SFA top brass look weak and malleable. What’s more, they back up what many of us thought about the relationship between him, Maxwell and SFA president Mike Mulraney.
Scottish Football Association chief executive Ian Maxwell is in dire need of a pick-me-up
That Clarke saw himself in a position to ‘control my narrative’ is alarming. His revelation that he effectively put a gun to SFA heads before the World Cup by threatening to announce his departure before it started, leading to a new four-year deal after they ‘panicked a little bit’, is much more concerning.
Some will always argue that Clarke was a roaring success due to taking the nation back to major finals. Others, however, will always wonder why a guy who then failed so dismally on those stages looked like he always had the SFA’s cojones in a vice.
Maxwell comes out badly from Clarke’s reflections and has a lot riding on these two big projects he has been throwing his weight behind of late along with new chief football officer Craig Mulholland. Particularly when Mulraney is rarely spotted these days, no doubt aware he’s going to face a grilling over being the chairman of FIFA’s finance committee following the most avaricious, scandal-scarred World Cup in history.
Pocognoli is an interesting appointment as Clarke’s successor. Time will tell, of course, whether he can prosper outside of Jamestown Analytics’ protective bubble, where he won a Belgian league title with Union Saint-Gilloise before enduring a short and uncomfortable stay at Monaco.
There should be praise given, too, for the SFA’s recent decision to order the Old Firm to play their next home Scottish Cup ties behind closed doors following the disorder at Ibrox in last term’s quarter-final of the tournament.
Maxwell with SFA youth supremo Craig Mulholland and Scotland boss Sebastien Pocognoli
It’s in this attempt to change the pathway to first-team football for Scottish talents, though, that Maxwell really has to show proper leadership qualities, leave a legacy, and prove that he can really take people with him.
There’s a lot riding on it for him. The fact Falkirk chairman Jamie Swinney came out the other day, though, to state ‘I’m not absolutely convinced this will be voted through, sadly’ suggests anxious times beckon before the final votes are taken over October and November.
Maxwell’s bold decision to front this up maybe suggests he’s aware of the need to get a bit more front-foot. It’s just that it has the potential to blow up in his face – and, after the shambles surrounding Clarke, that’s not necessarily something he can afford.
