THE STRONGEST endorsement of Craig Levein’s appointment as the Scotland manager last night arrived from a source as unlikely as it was noteworthy. Barry Ferguson, banished into international exile following the Boozegate controversy this year, credited the Scottish Football Association for making a “great” move for Levein.
A day of intense negotiations and legal machinations relating to contracts was only missing the confirmation that the 45-year-old Levein has been persuaded to swap his role at Dundee United for the task of leading the Scots to their first major finals since 1998. It is understood Levein had offered to fill the vacancy created by George Burley’s sacking to the SFA chief executive, Gordon Smith and his appointment is expected to be confirmed this morning.
One of the first questions Levein will be asked when he meets the media – weather permitting, this afternoon – is whether Ferguson and his former Rangers team-mate Allan McGregor will be invited back to the Scotland fold. The striker Kris Boyd, moreover, said he would not play for Scotland during Burley’s tenure.
“It is a great appointment,” said Ferguson, a former Scotland captain who has 45 caps. “He is a manager whom I have a lot of respect for. I have met him a few times and he is a good guy; Scotland needed someone like Craig Levein to come in and shake the whole place up.”
On the subject of an international return, the Birmingham City midfielder added: “It is something I would really need to consider. Never once did I quit Scotland. It was Scotland who told me I was finished.”
Over to Levein, then, who was the only choice of the SFA’s executive board. They made their move last Wednesday, when the approach was made to Dundee.
Levein’s promising playing career was blighted and ultimately cut short by a serious knee injury. At the time of his retirement, words at an emotional press conference offered a hint of things to come. “My football and all of my aspirations have been snatched away from me,” Levein said in 1997. “If I can’t do it on the pitch, I hope to go into coaching.”
Twelve years on, a nation expects.
- Guardian Service
