The Walter Smith saga continues. And it gets more intriguing as the days pass.
The Scottish Football Association, who had threatened to sue Rangers Football Club are believed to have accepted compensation from the club. Unconfirmed reports mention a figure of £400,000. This is supposedly to be ratified by the SFA board on Monday.
Meanwhile, Smith is claiming that he wanted to remain Scotland coach, but was refused a contract extension. He declares that he was contracted to coach Scotland only for as long as they remained in the Euro 2008 championship. Even if Scotland qualify for the the Euro 2008 finals, that was no match to the 3 year tenure offered him at Ibrox park. Receiving nothing comparable from the SFA, Smith took the better offer. In a show of apparent frustration Smith said “If they had chosen to offer me an extended contract and I had signed it then I would not be leaving now. It’s as simple as that.”
Who’s right? Who’s wrong? I don’t know. The whole affair is just depressing. I just hope it blows over as soon as possible and we have a replacement in time for the Georgia match at Hampden.
The search for the new Scotland coach begins. Already a number of names have been put forward, with Alex McLeish being the initial favourite. Other’s suggested include Tommy Burns, Graeme Souness, Joe Jordan, Billy Davies and Everton manager David Moyes.
