Win, lose or draw, Levein must go: SFA cannot afford to leave the national coach in charge

Hugh Macdonald

Chief Sports Writer

Tuesday 16 October 2012

THE Long Goodbye continues its tour after unsuccessful dates at Hampden and Cardiff.

There is no way back for Craig Levein after defeat by Wales in Cardiff. Picture: SNS

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Hugh MacDonald

It stops in Brussels for one night only and there are no plans to transfer to Rio de Janeiro for an extended run in 2014.

The Craig Levein play continues but its drama now surely lies only in the manner and date of his departure. It has been proposed that victory against Belgium tonight might provide the unexpected twist that saves the Scotland manager, but the unlikelihood of that result would be complemented by its negligible impact on the team's chances of qualifying from Group A.

Scotland could win in Belgium, as football has a propensity to deliver a result that defies sane prediction, but the reality for the Scottish Football Association is that the World Cup campaign would still be dead in the water. The only beneficial effect of any triumph would be to keep the national team from finishing at the bottom of the group.Stewart Regan, the chief executive of the SFA, will be central to any decision over the future of the national coach and he has much to consider. He will be joined in any tribunal by Campbell Ogilvie, the SFA president, Alan McRae, vice-president, and Rod Petrie, second vice-president. The reluctance of the SFA to move swiftly to dismiss Levein has been influenced strongly by the high regard in which the national coach is held at Hampden. Levein has been a constant ally to Regan as the chief executive moves to improve the game in Scotland, particularly with the introduction of a national academy. The national coach is viewed as an intelligent, shrewd contributor to debates on how the game must be changed but his principal role is to deliver results for the A team. He has failed. Scotland travel to the most difficult fixture in the group with two points from three matches and with the collateral damage extending far beyond another failed attempt to reach a major finals.The problem for Regan and his fellow office-bearers is the Levein situation is now not personal, but business. Regan, appointed just two years ago, faces yet another crisis following the referees' strike, the tough but beneficial moves to improve disciplinary procedures and the fall-out from the Rangers financial meltdown.He now has to contemplate another difficult scenario, where inaction could impact heavily on the future of the game in Scotland.The national team's next home match in the qualification campaign is against Wales on March 22 with the next visitors being Croatia on October 16. A vibrant team, challenging for a place in Rio, would ensure that 104,000 tickets would be sold for the two matches with the consequent increased revenue for merchandise and catering.Already, it would be reasonable to assume that a combined 50,000 would be a highly optimistic figure for attendances at those matches. This would entail a heavy dunt to the SFA finances, but that could be borne if a successful campaign for the European Championships in 2016 was a likelihood rather than just a possibility.The finals in France offer the best chance for Scotland to qualify for a major tournament and end a drought that stretches back to 1998. With France qualified as hosts, 52 teams will compete for 23 places in the enlarged 2016 tournament. This is a tournament Scotland cannot afford to miss from both a sporting and financial perspective.Regan and his team must weigh up both the prospect of an improvement in results and the dreadful price to be paid for a continuation of the form that has brought Levein just three victories in 11 competitive matches.There are now 28 European countries rated above Scotland, with a drop in rankings inevitable after the recent run of poor results. Scotland must ensure that the team is in the highest pot, so that a tilt for France is not impaired by having, for example, to play in a group from a third or fourth pot.These implications should make the departure of Levein inevitable. His contract expires in the summer of 2014 and it should be terminated now. The alternative is for Levein to resign, but there seems no likelihood of that given his statements over the weekend. ''I 100% believe we are heading in the right direction'' was the most telling sentiment expressed.This direction does not point towards Rio, but it must arrive in France in 2016. A new driver is needed. There is a clutch of candidates, many of them out of work. Gordon Strachan, Joe Jordan, Alex McLeish, Billy Davies (with Craig Brown as a part-time mentor to keep the wee man in check?) and Graeme Souness are all available without compensation. They could bring a fresh impetus to a cause that is stagnating. It would be tedious to reiterate the errors committed by Levein since he took the job in 2009, but they are significant, because Scotland do not win games they should and must win.It would be absurd, too, to lay all the problems of the national game at his feet, but he has to be held responsible for a sustained period of under-achievement.Scotland may win in Belgium tonight, but it will be too late for Rio and it should be too late for Levein.

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Win, lose or draw, Levein must go: SFA cannot afford to leave the national coach in charge

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