SFA chief is stumbling from one ridiculous blunder to another, says enraged Levein

Responding to St Mirren's correspondence about Freeland, Smith was reported to have suggested on Monday that the level of paranoia among SPL sides had reached the stage where every top-flight club had made contact with him to voice their displeasure. But the former Hearts manager, pictured left, said: "For Gordon Smith to say he has received a letter from us complaining about referees being biased is absolutely ridiculous.

"He should know better than to open his mouth and talk like that without even thinking.

"If he has a problem with any managers criticising referees then he should do something about it but don't tar us with the brush that he's wanting to use on other people.

"I'm not accepting him bracketing us in amongst people accusing referees to be biased and I'm certainly not standing for suggestions that we've written to complain about them.

"For me it's just another blunder by Gordon Smith. He just stumbles from one thing to the next and, honestly, I'm livid about this.

"It's absolutely ridiculous."

After Levein's comments were relayed to the SFA yesterday, the association released a statement late in the afternoon to claim that Smith had been misquoted, and that the letters he had been referring to had been sent by supporters rather than the clubs themselves.

A spokesman for the SFA explained: "In the course of a lengthy discussion with journalists yesterday Gordon Smith mentioned that he had received representations from SPL clubs about the performances of referees.

"These comments referred to letters, emails and phone calls from fans of SPL clubs who have contacted the Scottish FA to feel that they – their clubs – have been hard done by in some way by a referee.

"Gordon felt that he had made this clear over the course of his conversation with the journalists, but for the avoidance of any doubt he is happy to clarify the situation. We have not received formal letters of complaints from SPL clubs regarding the performance of referees."

This cut no ice with Levein, however, and the Tannadice manager said the SFA statement had only served to increase his anger.

"I got a call at 16:45 from someone at the SFA telling me that Gordon Smith had been misquoted," said Levein.

"I asked why it had taken until then for someone to get in touch and was told it was because they'd been working their way round the clubs.

"I am even more furious now because of the way the whole thing has been handled.

"Gordon Smith should have called every club himself first thing this morning to apologise and explain that he'd been misquoted."

The latest embarrassing episode to engulf Smith, pictured right, follows a turbulent introduction to football administration for the former media pundit, who succeeded David Taylor as SFA chief executive in June last year.

Smith was criticised for failing to personally inform Motherwell manager Mark McGhee that he had been unsuccessful in his interview for the Scotland manager's job, for which George Burley was the chosen candidate.

McGhee only learned that
he had missed out when informed by a television reporter, and Smith later claimed that he did not have the Fir Park manager's telephone number.

Smith came in for further flak when he interrupted the press conference to unveil Burley to defend his recruitment procedure, and became involved in a spat with journalists while the new Scotland manager looked on in bemusement. The chief executive then exacerbated that gaffe by attempting to defend his performance on a radio phone-in 24 hours later.

Smith's background as a television pundit was supposed to mark him out as the ideal man to handle the media in his new role. However, it is clear his new brief does not offer him the same freedom of expression enjoyed by media commentators. In the position he now occupies, he is accountable for everything he says in the public domain, as Levein has been quick to point out on this occasion.

Taken from the Scotsman