Scots won't rush into appointment

Scotland's next manager could be months away from being appointed after SFA chief executive Gordon Smith vowed he would keep an open mind and not rush the decision.

The Scottish Football Association board held a 90-minute meeting today but only the process of choosing a new manager was discussed.

The Hampden meeting had initially been arranged to discuss Birmingham's approach to the SFA, which was rejected, before Alex McLeish's written resignation yesterday unexpectedly speeded up matters.

While the Premier League club wasted no time in unveiling their new boss, with compensation still to be decided, Smith admitted it could be as late as spring before the SFA do the same.

Smith said: "We had a meeting this morning and all we were looking at was the process.  I have been given responsibility to try to find the candidates.

"There have been loads of names put about, but we'll be taking our time over it.  There's no time-frame on it at all either because we don't want to be rushed into it.

"We don't think we'll be appointing anyone until the early part of next year, I'm pretty sure about that."

The Scots have no friendlies planned but are likely to play on either or both of the upcoming international fixture dates on February 6th and March 26th.

Smith is hopeful of having someone in place before Scotland's next game.

"But we are not going to put ourselves under any undue pressure," he added.

Furthermore, Scotland's last-gasp failure to reach the Euro 2008 finals means Smith has some breathing space before the national team's next "meaningful" game, which is likely to be in September.

But he added: "We do want to get someone in place well prior to that in order that he can put his plans in place and basically prepare for the very important campaign for the 2010 World Cup."

Smith will create a shortlist and head a three or four-man interview panel before the office bearers rubber-stamp the appointment.

He believes there will be huge interest in the job.

Billy Davies declared himself open to offers after he left his Derby job on Monday, while Graeme Souness has expressed his interest in international management.

Smith expects the new man to be a Scot, although he is not ruling out Scotland's second foreign manager following Berti Vogts.