THE jungle drums started to beat late on Monday afternoon, and within a few hours it was unofficially confirmed that Pedro Martinez Losa would be the new Scotland head coach. Once the formalities were completed, the appointment was announced by the Scottish FA on Wednesday morning.
The 45-year-old Spaniard, who doesn't start for another week, left Bordeaux on the same day, and with his contract in France completed there is no compensation involved. Another result for the SFA, who saved a considerable sum by leaving the post vacant for seven months.
The positive is that the new head coach has a much better CV than many expected. Martinez Losa has a record of achievement in Spain, England and France, and, as an assistant, in the United States.
He won three successive Primera Division titles with Rayo Vallecano immediately prior to Barcelona's domination of the league, and then the FA Cup and League Cup with Arsenal.
In France, his record was also good. The realistic best place finish in Division 1 Feminine for Bordeaux, given the presence of Europe's most successful club, Lyon, and new first time champions Paris Saint-Germain, is third – and Martinez Losa achieved that in both his seasons in charge.
In the most recent, Bordeaux drew 0-0 with PSG and lost by just a single goal in the other three games against the top two. Only four goals were conceded overall, so he knows how to set up a side to defend.
Fiona McIntyre, the SFA's head of girls and women's football, says the results against two of the continent's very top clubs were a factor in Martinez Losa's favour. The appointment, and the news that all of Scotland's home World Cup qualifiers will be played at Hampden – tickets go on sale on Thursday – made for a very busy and productive few days, with the women's five year strategy also being published.
“We know there will be games we dominate, and we want to play a style of football that attracts fans to Hampden,” McIntyre said. “But at the same time there will be difficult games and he's shown he was able to deal with those in France.”
Martinez Losa brought Kim Little back to Arsenal for a second time, and also signed Lisa Evans from Bayern Munich. Emma Mitchell, Christie Murray and Caroline Weir were also at the club during his time there – with McIntyre saying he had a good knowledge of all the Scottish players at interview.
While the seven month wait appears to have provided a good outcome, the overall recruitment process doesn't reflect well on the SFA hierarchy. Candidates who put their names forward in December and January, including some very credible ones, appear to have been ignored, with the Italian Carolina Morace telling BBC Scotland that chief executive Ian Maxwell didn't even follow up on her agent's approach.
It was only when McIntyre stepped into her new role in April that any sense of priority was given to filling such a hugely important post. Even so, it looked as if the soft option of giving the job to interim head coach and current SFA employee Stuart McLaren might prevail – but Martinez Losa entered the frame after the Wales friendly and the outcome is one that will hopefully improve Scotland's World Cup qualifying chances.
It's unfortunate that the Spaniard will only meet his selected squad for the first time in September, when the 2023 World Cup qualifiers get underway against Hungary (away) and Faroe Islands (home). However, Martinez Losa's first big test won't arrive until two months later.
By the time of November's trip to his home country to meet the Group B top seeds, the new head coach will be uniquely placed to know the strengths and weaknesses of both his own players and the opposition's. The return qualifier at Hampden on April 12 may decide which of the two nations qualifies automatically for the finals in Australia and New Zealand.
Spain were also the opponents when the team's first ever game at the national stadium was played in 2012. The 2022 version should be a great opportunity to break Scotland's record attendance of 18,855, set at Hampden against Jamaica two years ago.
And finally...
SCOTT Booth will start his new job at Birmingham City on a high this week after winning the SWPL coach of the year award on Friday night. His old side, Glasgow City, were named team of the year.
Congratulations to all the MG Alba SWF winners, including SWPL1 player of the year Lisa Robertson and her SWPL2 counterpart Bayley Hutchison.
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