SFA chief Maxwell alarmed by dearth of top-class Scottish managers
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell has admitted that the current lack of top-class Scottish managers is an issue which needs to be urgently addressed by the governing body.
Sebastien Pocognoli was unveiled as Scotland’s new boss earlier this week, with the 39-year-old Belgian becoming the nation’s first foreign head coach in over 20 years.
The likes of Derek McInnes and David Moyes had previously been touted as possible successors to Steve Clarke, but both were unavailable due to club commitments with Rangers and Everton respectively.
Maxwell believes that, in an ideal world, the SFA would have had several homegrown candidates from which to select.
He expressed his delight at being able to secure the services of Pocognoli, whom he believes was one of the most highly coveted young coaches in Europe.
But Maxwell is determined that, by the next time the vacancy comes around, there will be plenty of options in terms of Scottish managers with the credentials to take the job.
New Scotland manager Pocognoli with SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell
Asked about the fact that Pocognoli had initially expressed concerns about how he would be received as a foreign coach, the SFA chief said: ‘Yeah, he mentioned it.
‘But again, when you look at modern football, how many English managers are managing in English Premier League?
‘There are a lot of countries now that have a manager that’s not from the country that he represents.
‘Yeah, in an ideal world, we would have loved a Scottish coach. And I think the fact that we don’t have an obvious one is a problem.
‘I think that’s something as an association we need to look at and say: “Well, from a coach education perspective, how do we make sure whenever the next time comes that we’ve got a a number of Scottish coaches that that are at a level where they could go and become the next Scotland manager?”
‘So we need to take that on board and look at that from a coach education point of view and coaching pathway and how we’re doing that.
‘But it’s just the modern game. You look at all of our squad, I would be interested to know how many different nationalities are coaching the players in our national team at club level.
‘That’s just football. We even had a conversation about how important is it that someone actually speaks English.
‘You look at the the club environment and you go: “Well, you know what, De Zerbi went into Brighton and didn’t speak English for the first two years”.
‘The players are used to that. It’s actually becoming less of a thing, the world’s becoming smaller and smaller. So it was a conversation, but it was never going to be a hindrance in any way.
‘The way he speaks, the energy he has, the freshness, his age – when you put the whole package together, we’re in a good place.’
Derek McInnes was appointed Rangers boss weeks before the Scotland job became available
Pocognoli has signed a two-year deal and spoke of his desire to bring a new style of play to Scotland, as well as helping to blood a new generation of young players.
His appointment has, by and large, been well received by supporters, with his first two matches coming against Slovenia and Switzerland when the Nations League gets under way next month.
The former Monaco and Union Saint-Gilloise boss has a strong reputation for developing young players and playing an attacking brand of football.
The SFA leaned heavily into the data and analytics side of things – and Maxwell is confident the Tartan Army will be excited by what they see from the new man.
Asked whether Scotland fans are ready to embrace change, Maxwell said: ‘They better be ready for it – because it’s coming. We’re not going to stop him.
‘I think in a lot of aspects, Scottish football needs to modernise itself. We need to think differently about how we do things across a range of areas.
‘Some guys have said: “Oh, it’s a gamble, no international experience.” It doesn’t matter. There’s no correlation between international experience and success.
‘I am absolutely delighted with the with the appointment we’ve made. Seb is one of Europe’s most sought-after young coaches.
‘He’s definitely left-field. I don’t think he’s anything anybody was expecting, which is a good place to be.
‘It wasn’t necessarily about us being too negative [in the past under Clarke]. It was more about the teams that do well, how do they do that?
‘What does their team shape look like? What does their defensive line height look like? All the different metrics that you can get into.
Maxwell believes Pocognoli ticks all the boxes to be the new Scotland head coach
‘And when you fit that to Seb, he wants to play on the front foot, he wants to be aggressive, he wants to get a high press, he wants to get after teams.
‘All his teams have played that way. His teams have scored a lot of goals across the clubs he has managed.
‘Scottish fans love nothing more than putting teams under pressure and winning the ball back high up the pitch.
‘I’m sure that the supporters will be off their seats at the first game at Hampden when they see his team play.’
Along with chief football officer Craig Mulholland, Maxwell led the recruitment process to identify Clarke’s successor after his shock resignation after the World Cup.
A key part of the process became looking at data and metrics, as well as other nations of a similar size to Scotland who have performed better in major tournaments.
Maxwell acknowledged the feeling among most fans that simply qualifying for tournaments is no longer enough – and he is confident Pocognoli is the man to help Scotland make that next step.
‘When we looked at countries who have done better than us over a period of time, and how they’ve done it, and why they’ve done it, and what their playing styles look like – all those different bits come together,’ said Maxwell.
‘Listen, it’s not an easy fix. There’s not a silver bullet. If everybody knew what the answer was, everybody would be doing it and nobody would ever lose a game of football. That’s not how it works.
‘It was always going to be different. Steve had been here for a while. A freshness, a fresh voice, you know, different training sessions, all the things that Seb will bring.
‘I’m sure the players are all really looking forward to it. And it’s always exciting when there’s a change of manager, regardless of the circumstances around about it.
‘We were coming at it from a slightly different position. Normally when you’re looking for a new head coach, you’re looking for one of two reasons.
‘Either it’s been rubbish and you need to rip it up and start again, or it’s been brilliant and really successful and somebody has come and taken them away.
Steve Clarke stood down after a disappointing World Cup campaign for Scotland
‘We were in the middle of that, probably towards the successful side, but not quite there.
‘The expectation in the country is now that just qualifying for tournaments isn’t enough, and we were very open about that with Seb and everybody else we spoke to.
‘Somebody is going to have to come in and take us on to the next level because that’s what everybody expects.
‘That’s what we want to see, that’s what the players want, that’s what the country wants.
‘It’s a big opportunity. He’s obviously got seven years of a core squad of a group that are now experienced in international football.
‘They understand what it takes to qualify, understand what tournament football is like, and we need to use all the foundations that Steve and the guys have set over the length of seven years and take that on to the next level.’
