Craig Levein removed as Scotland manager

Ewing Grahame

Craig Levein’s intention, shared with the Scottish Football Association’s chief executive Stewart Regan “some time ago”, to resign as Scotland’s manager at the end of the current World Cup campaign ended up costing him his job on Monday.

One might have thought that his dismal results in Group A, combined with those in the failed attempt at qualification for Euro 2012, would have sufficed but Regan revealed on Monday night that the decision of the seven-man board to remove him was not unanimous and that Levein’s refusal to commit to the long haul played a key part in it.

He also disclosed, in an arrangement similar to the one Celtic deployed after dispensing with the services of Tony Mowbray, that the 48 year-old will continue to receive his full salary and benefits package until the summer of 2014 or until such time as he finds alternative employment.

“We can’t go into the details, but the factors that contributed to today’s decision were the results first and foremost, and also Craig’s intention to step down come what may at the end of the current campaign,” said Regan.

“Those were the two key factors, [although] a number of others contributed to it. The fact is we find ourselves bottom of the group and the board don’t believe we are bottom-of-the-group material. There are players who are better than that and can get us up the group.

“What we need is a new manager to help galvanise the squad and give some respectability back to the campaign. Craig has a legally binding contract.

“As an employer, we are not terminating that contract and we’ve agreed that we will honour it. We’ve relieved him of his duties because we believe we need someone else to come in and lead the team.

“Craig will continue to receive all the entitlements that are in his contract including his remuneration but I’m not prepared to discuss the details. He was given the chance to come across to Hampden today but preferred not to.”

Incredibly, Regan failed to share his knowledge of Levein’s plan to walk away from the national team with any of his SFA colleagues.

“Craig shared that with me privately some time ago,” he said. “The board were made aware of that following the meeting [Campbell and I] had with him last Tuesday.

“He made that clear to us as part of the debrief after the Belgium game and that was part of the feedback we shared with the board on Thursday. He felt that his future was not going to be in international management after this campaign.

“He is very disappointed today. He felt he deserved the chance to carry on, he wanted to carry on. He made that very clear to us last Tuesday.”

Regan, however, rejected suggestions that the SFA should have acted earlier.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “We recognised that we hadn’t got off to the start we would have liked. We had two home games and Craig and I were part of the group, along with Campbell, who went to Belgium to agree the fixtures.

“We decided that getting off to a flying start was the strategy and we got two home games. If you’d have asked us then what we would have hoped for it would have been for more than two draws.

“Therefore we were all very disappointed but there were still eight games left to go after and lots of points for us to get so it was decided that Craig was clearly up for it and wanted time to turn things around. We respected that.

“It’s easy to throw criticism but what the board have had to do is factor in a huge raft of issues. Results are important – this is a results business – but there were signs and evidence that Craig was starting to make a difference with the type of player he was bringing in.

“We have more players than before playing in the Premier League, seen as the best league in the world. We wanted to have more best v best opportunities with players from the highest level.

“There were lots of ifs, buts and maybes in a lot of the games that could have gone a different way but the fact of the matter is that they didn’t.

“We also need to have a degree of realism. We are currently ranked 56 in Fifa’s rankings, we’re a country of 5.5m and we haven’t qualified [for anything] since 1998.”

Regan, meanwhile, will start the process of finding Leven’s successor when the team returns from Luxembourg next week. Under-21 coach Billy Stark will select the squad, which is likely to be announced on Wednesday.

Regan wants the new manager appointed “as soon as possible”.

Names in the frame

Gordon Strachan
The former Celtic manager was interviewed for the job in 2004 but lost out on that occasion to former Rangers manager Walter Smith. Currently out of work, he has privately indicated he would be interested in an approach from the SFA. Odds: 5/4

Walter Smith
The former Scotland manager is also currently available but is more likely to return to Rangers in some capacity, possibly director. 10/1

Alex McLeish
The former Rangers, Birmingham and Aston Villa manager posted the best record of anyone with the national team, boasting a 70 per cent win rate while leading the team to 14th in Fifa’s rankings by the time of his departure in 2007. 12/1

Joe Jordan
Former Spurs coach is an iconic figure for the Tartan Army and would also welcome the opportunity to serve his country. 12/1

Taken from telegraph.co.uk