BRIAN McClair’s departure after barely a year as the Scottish FA performance director will not trigger an outpouring of grief in women’s football.
Hired to improve matters within Club Academy Scotland, and thus make a better standard of young player available to Gordon Strachan and his successors, McClair made little impact. It is arguable whether he should have been offered the post.
I wasn’t impressed by the outgoing performance director on the only occasion our paths crossed – on the trip to Slovenia for the opening Euro 2017 qualifying game last September.
In contrast to Mark Wotte, his predecessor, McClair was aloof and uncommunicative. He was unwilling, for example, to praise or even talk about Kim Little after she scored the three Scotland goals. In journalistic terms, it’s called missing an open goal – not great when you’re the performance director of Scotland’s highest profile sports governing body.
However, what really sank McClair for me was his decision – not based on financial considerations – to prevent Scotland from participating in this year’s Cyprus Cup. I commented unfavourably on it at the time, and the intervening period has only reinforced my view.
Thanks to McClair, the Scotland players were not as well prepared as their Icelandic counterparts for June’s Group 1 showdown at Falkirk Stadium. Whereas we spurned the chance to play four competitive games in the sunshine during our winter, the Icelanders did not, playing in a parallel tournament in Portugal.
I’m not suggesting McClair was responsible for the 4-0 loss in Falkirk. There were aspects of the Scotland display that evening which were abject.
What is beyond dispute is that it is a basic requirement of any performance director to ensure the players under his/her control are given the best possible preparation and opportunities.
In failing to do this, McClair was found badly wanting.
ONE of Scotland’s most engaging players, Christie Murray, is scheduled to make her debut for Doncaster Rovers Belles in an FA WSL match against Chelsea this afternoon.
Although just 26, the attacking midfielder is already a woman of many clubs, having started with Queen’s Park, had two spells at Celtic, and also played for Glasgow City, Arsenal and Bristol.
Her second stint at Celtic lasted just a few months, with the lure of a return to England proving irresistible.
“I loved my time at Celtic – the set-up is brilliant and everyone was so supportive,” Murray said, “but being offered a professional contact was huge.”
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