IT feels a little strange to say it now, but UEFA did seem a better place when Lennart Johansson was running the show.

Remember him? A large Swedish man. It is odd to sing his praises having once been part of a newspaper sports desk, which, inadvertently, printed his home telephone number within its pages, instigating the kind of logjam not seen on the network since Bob Geldof started cursing and swearing about getting your hand in your pocket for Africa.

It is easy to feel sheepish about that whole unfortunate business, sparked off when Estonia refused to turn up to play Scotland in a World Cup qualifying match in Tallinn.

Our team should, under the rules, have been awarded a 3-0 win. Big Lennart, whose home nation were our biggest rivals in the group, thought differently and somehow, in his role as a FIFA vice-president, was permitted to chair an Executive Committee meeting which ordered a replay in Monte Carlo, of all places.

It was a decision as incongruous as a deep-fried Mars Bar on a Nordic smorgasbord. Joe Public had a right to make his discontent known.

Little did we know at my august organ of the time, however, that the contact details printed within a widely-available UEFA newsletter for the man who was their serving president were, quite inexplicably, not those of his office.

If nothing else, that cautionary tale proves the UEFA of yesterday was certainly more transparent than the UEFA of today.

It was also prepared to stand up to the bullying nature of the richest and most powerful clubs, then operating within a collective unit called G-14.

“It is just a group that has appointed itself with the sole intention of looking after itself,” stated Johansson in an interview ahead of leaving office in 2007. “In all my time as UEFA president, I never had a single meeting with them. I refused to recognise their existence.

“Unfortunately, other people based in Switzerland haven’t felt able to follow such a consistent line.”

In 2008, with Johansson’s vacated seat still warm, they were brought inside the tent, reforming as the European Club Association under a deal with the game’s authorities.

Following the election of UEFA’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino, to the FIFA presidency last week, though, there should be growing concerns within Scottish football over the increasing power vacuum that currently exists within European football’s governing body.

The move afoot from the major clubs in the major footballing nations to redraw the access rules to the Champions League has been well-documented. The biggest clubs are to be given a free pass. The tournament, should they get their way, may not be entirely invitation-only, but it won’t be far from it.

They are striking when UEFA is at its weakest, with their hitherto president Michel Platini continuing to appeal against a six-year ban from football for accepting a £1.3million payment from Sepp Blatter and the next man in line, Angel Maria Villar of the Spanish FA, the subject of a corruption inquiry in his homeland.

What seems quite incredible is that there appears to have been no discussion over the future of UEFA following Infantino’s departure. It is in a state of limbo and that is dangerous and worrying for Scottish clubs in the face of a power grab that looks likely to leave them out in the cold.

Platini cannot possibly return given all that has happened. Thought is surely being given behind the scenes to candidates worthy of standing for election to the post of president. It is a discussion which Scottish clubs ought to be placing themselves at the centre of.

Certainly, there is much to be said for returning UEFA to Northern European hands. The likes of Dutchman Michael van Praag, currently a vice-president, would seem a likely contender and, as a former chairman of Ajax, would appear to have an understanding of the challenges smaller nations face in this globalised environment.

There will be others. The Scottish FA and our clubs should currently be looking at who might be best placed to defend our interests when the time comes and getting a plan in place.

Of course, it might all be too late. UEFA and the European Club Association are already close. Last time I met Infantino, it was in the foyer of the W Hotel in Barcelona following the conclusion of an ECA meeting. A most courteous man, incidentally. Gave me a most acceptable, little back page story.

The good lady brought our first-born to the hotel that afternoon to meet me for coffee. I had already started the introductions with Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive, before realising the little man in the pram had been dressed in a cardigan of red, white and royal blue.

Mercifully, I don’t think Peter noticed. Evidence, though, of the need to think ahead and step judiciously in football’s corridors of power.