Ian Maxwell’s schtick of diverting the focus from big issues away to ‘hysterical’ reactions from media or punters or whoever is becoming tiresome.
Rather than addressing why officiating in this country is so sub-standard, with the use of VAR towards the end of an enthralling Premiership title race attracting scorn from all over the planet, the SFA chief executive prefers to talk about human error, phoning the police to protect referees and pundits going over the top.
When Steve Clarke wisely decided to jack it in as Scotland boss, Maxwell emerged to express the opinion that ‘fairly hysterical commentary from back home, which hasn’t helped’ played a part.
Yet, Clarke’s own words contradicted that. He claimed he was always planning to quit if the national side didn’t make it into the knockout stage of the World Cup — even though he had just signed a new four-year deal.
It certainly doesn’t do much to counteract the fear that Maxwell, who entered football administration almost by accident when being offered the Partick general manager’s role after failing to become head coach, lacks the big-picture thinking and big business expertise required to get a multi-million pound organisation moving consistently in the right direction.
There is a real chance now for him, though, to step up and actually discuss the answers to a sizeable issue in detail rather than indulging in smoke and mirrors behaviour.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell is on the lookout for a new Scotland manager
With Clarke gone, the inquest over the national team’s failings in the US can move on to discussing what needs to happen to produce better, more technical players in future.
Craig Mulholland’s appointment as the SFA’s new chief football officer is a little underwhelming, but he starts work this week and, with that, comes the opportunity to talk about the reviews and recommendations that exist on developing the next generation.
It’s a shame his predecessor Andy Gould and men’s elite strategy chief Chris Docherty have moved on since releasing a terrific report in late 2024 that tore apart the way Scottish football has been working for years.
It slammed ‘the figureheads of Scottish clubs’ for focusing on limited TV deals, ticketing and merchandise to generate income while their European counterparts are preoccupied with developing players for profit.
It also slaughtered club boards for having no real strategy on youth, and the SFA, itself, for their failed Performance Schools and useless Club Academy Scotland programme.
Maxwell faced the music after Scotland’s World Cup exit in the group stage
Another report released last October made it clear that granting elite licences for academies needs to stop being a tick-box exercise to secure money.
What is yet to be ascertained is how that is going to work. One clear place to start is on incentivising clubs to bring through young players, only providing funds when targets are met or actual end results in terms of kids in first-team set-ups can be measured.
Last October’s ‘Review of Youth Development in Men’s Football’ report lists six different options to explore in order to make progress.
What’s clear is that a firm plan now needs to be put together and a way found to put pressure on clubs to place more faith in young Scottish talent.
Maxwell started his current job by insisting he wasn’t a puppet installed in a political stitch-up.
Well, this, after a decade in Scottish football’s murky corridors of power and seven years at the head of the SFA, is a chance to show he puts the wider good ahead of what clubs might prefer.
That there is a degree of self-evaluation and self-criticism at the SFA amid the usual obfuscation.
This maybe isn’t the sexiest of subjects, but the floor’s all his. If he’s up to it.
