Alan Burrows, the Motherwell chief executive, has backed Malky Mackay to listen to the concerns over the Scottish Football Association's Project Brave and drive our domestic and national game forward.
Mackay was installed as the SFA's Performance Director last month, becoming the third incumbent of the role following Mark Wotte and most recently Brian McClair. His immediate predecessor lasted just 17 months after failing to push through his vision.
The appointment of Mackay has not been greeted with mass approval, mainly due to messages he sent while in charge at Cardiff City.
However, Burrows believes the former Celtic and Scotland defender is the best placed of all the men who have held the position to push through progress and bring Scotland out of the shadows.
“I think the fact this is the third person in the job tells you that it's a difficult job but it can be a rewarding one," he told HeraldSport.
“What do I want to see? I want someone who gets what it’s like to operate clubs at an elite level in Scotland. Mark Wotte came in with the best of intentions and had innovative ideas. Some worked and some didn’t.
“We met Brian when he came in but I think it became quite clear to him early on that the job wasn’t quite what he thought it was going to be. Brian also spent 20 years at Manchester United in a youth system where he was boss.
“I’ve spoken to Malky about this, and I think he is going into this with his eyes open and knows about the challenges he’ll face personally and in the job.
“Malky has played at this level fairly recently, he has interacted with people in the game up here recently as well so it’s all of that together I hope will combine together to make him the most successful performance director we’ve had."
Burrows and Motherwell are still waiting on clarification over Project Brave's elite league blueprint, a plan that the club fears will see them frozen out the top tier of Scottish youth football.
It has been a sore point not just for Motherwell but other sides in a similar position as they attempt to attract the best young players to keep their clubs sustainable.
“I think Malky will get it," added Burrows. "He’s open and approachable. I think he will hopefully be willing to listen to clubs given his background and given the people he knows.
“I want Malky to come here and have the conversation we are having right now and look in my eyes and tell me if this is right.
“Certainly from what I’ve read and heard paints an accurate picture of what a performance director is. It almost seems like a political role as your main job is to bring 42 or more opinions together to something people can all get behind. That’s extremely difficult.
“I think Malky has the best chance to try and unify as many people behind a single idea. That’s not to say he’ll find it easy, he won’t, but if anyone is placed to do it I think Malky is."
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