LOADS of people are kicking Mark Wotte on the way out of the Hampden door.

But at least I was prepared to state my reservations about the job the SFA's departed performance director while he was in situ. I have given my judgment on the Dutchman in this space previously and I stand by it today.

Let's cut to the chase. I don't know precisely why he has left the SFA, whether he walked away or was shoved. But I know for a fact how disliked he was, both within the building and among the clubs. He was disliked because he was arrogant and didn't listen to people. Not just people who are out of the game, and are said to be pre-historic. He didn't listen to people who are actually working in the game right now and have a contribution to make.

Having walked out of so many previous jobs after a year or so, in my opinion he wasn't proven when he arrived in this country. Now, having walked out three years into a ten-year cycle, he still isn't.

I am wary of going over old ground again, but Wotte got it wrong when he insisted on allowing only two outfield over-age players in Under-20 matches, and eventually had to climb down. I remember from my time at Chelsea how much it brought on my development to get playing time against experienced pros in reserve matches, and I know how impossible it would be for clubs to run both a reserve team and an Under-20 team.

He got it wrong again when it came to insisting upon the time of these matches - on Mondays at 7pm, even though it meant that kids from the Highlands wouldn't be returning home until 2am in the morning, or when he told the Highland clubs to amalgamate their academies, something that just wasn't feasible.

His rationale was always that "this was the way things were done in Holland" but Scotland has its own native football culture and Wotte failed to take account of that. He was enticing the clubs with money, but the end result of that was that some managers could only get their full squad together for training once a week.

He criticised the Scottish scene as Buckfast and burgers. If he had come out with that statement 20 years ago I would have said good point, but is unfair to tar the modern-day footballer with such an old brush. It was also a load of baloney that he insisted on all his youth teams playing 4-3-3, regardless of the fact you could be getting pushed back in a game or encounter a team which plays five in midfield.

By the time they reach the full team, Gordon Strachan can obviously choose to play whatever way he wants. No wonder all Wotte's youth team coaches, like Ian Cathro, Scott Booth or Ray McKinnon seemed to leave.

But it is not about what has happened in the past, it is about what we do now, because there are some good things there to build on. The positives are that we have got some young players coming through who are competitive in tournaments, and the performance school scheme - which pre-dates Wotte's arrival here - should increase the level still further. Our Under-16 team under Booth was the first to win the Victory Shield trophy for years, while our Under-17 side under Scot Gemmill reached the semi-final in the European ­Championships, an achievement Wotte tried to take the credit for.

We don't have to go foreign anymore. We have plenty of experienced Scottish coaches who would be great working with young boys, great at working within a structure, great at keeping some of the things Wotte did get right going.

I hope we go Scottish. The SFA are apparently going to conduct an audit to decide which elements of the performance remit to keep before advertising for his successor but we need someone with experience.

Let's face it, Cathro isn't going to come back from assistant manager at Valencia, nor is John Collins going to leave his role as assistant manager at Celtic to do that. We have to be realistic. Someone at the SFA, like Scot Gemmill, could have an enhanced role.

In theory, it would be great to see a committee of experienced Scottish coaches such as Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, Walter Smith and Malky Mackay take over some of the responsibilities, but there is no chance of it happening.

Ultimately, I don't care whether his replacement - assuming there is one - is Scottish, Portuguese or Dutch, as long is he isn't as arrogant. We need a people person, someone who is prepared to work with the clubs and stay the course.

It wasn't Wotte who produced the improved results for the senior Scotland national team; manager Gordon Strachan did that himself, along with his players and his assistants.

Whoever the next guy is, it can't all be about him. It has to be about what is good for the game.