Stewart Regan’s unsuitability to be chief executive of the SFA was highlighted again yesterday when he ruled Malky Mackay out of contention for the Scotland vacancy.
Mackay was in charge for last night’s match against Holland with the SFA and former Cardiff boss keeping their options open after he had been appointed caretaker boss.
Regan is always keen to boost his profile, and employment prospects to an English audience, and decided to speak to TalkSPORT just hours before the game against Holland.
Asked if Mackay was a contender for the vacancy, Regan said: “No, Malky and I have discussed this. He’s got a big job on his hands, he’s said that himself.
“He’s been asked by the board to take charge for one game, that’s what he’s doing. We have got a very long list of candidates, as you can imagine for an opportunity like this.
“There isn’t really a time-frame on it, we will find the right person and make an appointment. We don’t have a competitive game until next September and therefore this is not something we need to rush into.
“We are going to take our time, we’re going to consider the candidates and try to identify the person we believe can lead us to Euro 2020.
“There’s lots of people that have put their name in the frame, out-of-work managers and a number of managers who are already under contract. We’ve had a lot of interest in the job.
“When we’ve had a chance to review that list and come up with a shortlist, then we’ll decide who we are going to see.”
Ruling Mackay out seems a hasty move and ill timed on the afternoon of an international match.
With Davie Moyes taking up the West Ham job two of the front runners for the Scotland job are no longer in contention.
Unless they want to go for a left field candidate or pay out compensation for someone in a job the short list is likely to consist of Alex McLeish.
The former Scotland boss, who received a £1.5m EBT from Rangers (IL) hasn’t had a UK job for almost four years.
Regan’s reign has been characterised by questionable governance decisions and the failure to even reach the play-off stage for four competitions.
With his poor grasp of media management it is becoming more and more difficult to identify what he brings to Scottish football to justify his executive salary.
