Gordon Smith: It’s just because he played for Rangers

Gordon Smith, Chief Executive of the Scottish Football Association, has come in for a considerable degree of criticism since he was appointed to the post.

There was his decision to blame Catholic schools for Scotland’s religious bigotry; his inaction on religious bigotry and racism in Scottish football grounds, most notably Ibrox; the lengthy process of appointing a successor to the national team coach, Alex McLeish; the way he informed – or didn’t inform – unsuccessful candidates such as Tommy Burns and Mark McGhee; his crass interruptions, picking a fight with the media during George Burley’s inaugural press conference; his false claims to have received complaints from every club about referees; equally false claims to having been misquoted while making these claims; his failure to secure a sponsor for the Scottish Cup; his apparent collusion with David Murray and the Daily Record to try to give Rangers an advantage in the SPL- trying to arrange a second extension without consulting any other clubs, ….

That’s enough to be going on with.

Amid all of these issues, Smith has insisted that criticisms of him stem only from jealousy of his “confidence” and resentment against his having played for Rangers, thereby absolving himself of any blame or, it seems, responsibility to sharpen up his act.

Yet, having kept his head down for the past few months (one of the few Scottish football figures to have kept a low profile after the death of Tommy Burns, a former SFA employee), Smith has finally decided to address the media and Scottish football fans with another brilliant idea.

That is the suggestion that Scotland fans should be prepared to pay upwards of £40 to see a friendly against Argentina on a Wednesday night in November. For this, Smith assures us, Argentina would be contracted to play its strongest team.

It would seem that Smith’s “confidence” has been replaced with delusions. If he somehow believes that this “consultation” will allow him to abdicate responsibility for ripping off those fans who attend Scotland matches, he is wrong. Likewise, he is fooling himself if he believes that outsiders cannot see through this stunt.

He doesn’t need a consultation – some common sense would have done – to tell him that he will attract more resentment than paying punters by this absurd plan.

And his promise of a “full-strength” Argentina in this friendly sounds unconvincing. As, George Burley’s first two internationals proved to be rest days for Rangers players, Smith would have more credibility if he was able to guarantee a full-strength Scotland.