NEXT!!!

AYE, OK - I got it wrong. I didn't think the SFA board, a body rapidly building up an unbeatable reputation for incompetence, would fire Craig Levein this close to a game, even a seemingly meaningless friendly with Luxembourg; but, even I under-estimated the depths to which the blazerati have sunk.

 

Let's be honest - Craig Levein wasn't a great Scotland boss - but, given the whole ethos surrounding the game up here at present, can we honestly be sure that anyone else might have done any better.

 

To be fair, Levein knew the whole game in Scotland stunk. At Hearts and even more at Dundee United, he tried to change things for the better. I've only met Craig on a few occasions, but, I liked and still like the guy. However, he could only work with the tools he was given and (mindful that even Jock Stein had his bad days with them) he didn't have a Dalglish, or a Bremner, or a Souness or Baxter or Law to call upon.

 

Much has been made of the number of Premiership players he could call on. Let's be honest, here, not many of these guys were real key men for top Premiership sides. Where once Bremner, or Law or Souness and Dalglish or Gilzean or Mackay were absolutely top men, for the top teams in England - we cannot say that about even Darren Fletcher, or Gary Caldwell - probably the two most-consistent Scotland players of recent years.

 

We have stopped producing genuine top-quality players, and until we put in place the systems which will bring this about again, we will struggle.

 

We don't have a system for properly nurturing out top young talent, and until we put in place the systems which will bring this about again, we will struggle.

 

Our leagues are decidedly poor ones in terms of overall quality, and until we put in place the systems which will change this, we will struggle.

 

Let's have a look at the"blazers" who decided to relieve Levein of his duties - while continuing to pay his salary up until the end of his contract in 2014 - and weep.

 

President Campbell Ogilvie ought to, like Levein, be on "gardening leave" pending the outcome of his part in the still unresolved Rangers' EBT scandal. He was heavily implicated in this and should have been long-ago side-lined, rather than making decisions on Levein. He is tainted.

 

Chief Executive Stewart Regan is also tainted, following the revelations of his attempts to pochle a deal which would keep Rangers in the SPL. The shoogly nail on which his blazer rests ought long ago to have fallen out.

 

The rest - well while I have a whole heap of respect for Tom Johnston's efforts to pull together the warring tribes of junior football - and have always found TJ to be one of the good guys - there's not a lot of talent there, not to mention one or two time-servers.

 

Scotland's mainstream football media is now busy telling us that Craig Levein was "Scotland's least successful manager" in terms of competitive games; except he wasn't.

 

Levein had charge of the team in 13 competitive games - of which his team won three, drew four and lost five, giving him 13 points - 36% of what was available, while those three wins amount to 25% of the total.

 

A previous Scotland boss had charge of the team in five competitive games - of which his team won won, drew two and lost two, giving him five points - 33.3% of what was available, while that single win amounted to 20% of the total.

 

That manager - the guy with an inferior record to Levein was Sir Alex Ferguson, when in charge between Jock Stein's tragic death at Cardiff and our early exit from the 1986 World Cup finals.

 

OK, SAF's reign covered the Inter-continental Play-off with Australia and the games against West Germany, Denmark and Uruguay in the World Cup Finals proper - Levein's were in qualifying campaigns.

 

But: Jim Leighton, Richard Gough, Mauriced Malpas, Graeme Souness, Alex McLeish, Willie Miller, Gordon Strachan, Roy Aitken, Eamonn Bannon, Jim Bett, Paul McStay, Andy Goram, Steve Nicol, David Narey, Arthur Albiston, Frank McAvennie, Steve Archibald, Graeme Sharp, Charlie Nicholas, Paul Sturrock, Davie Cooper and Alan Rough - the 22 players Fergie took to Mexico - even allowing for the greater quality of the West Germans and the Danes, couldn't get us into the second phase. I mean, all they had to do was beat ten Uruguayans over 89 minutes. Managing Scotland has never been easy.

 

If Fergie, Scotland's greatest-manager from his record with Aberdeen and Manchester United, could fail - what chance had Levein - he didn't have the same quality of player at his disposal?

 

OK, so, we accept that Levein had to go - who is next for what is now surely an impossible job?

 

Blame the system; we should change it before we change managers.