Watching the footage back from the press conference unveiling Malky Mackay as the SFA’s new performance director is about as comfortable as having an enema with a tube made from porcupine skin.

Both Mackay and SFA chief executive Stewart Regan may have needed some Johnson’s baby powder for their own chaffed rear-ends afterwards given the amount of squirming they were doing in their chairs.

The media present deserve credit for persevering with their hard line of questioning, but the evasive action employed by both men in the Hampden hot-seats was hugely telling, and completely undermined their case for the nation to collectively move on from the Mackay text storm of three years ago.

One of the notable cringe-inducing episodes from the exchange with the press was Mackay’s response to a question about what the next revelation would be about him. “Your tie gets better than that,” he quipped, as a tumbleweed careered across the table scaling Highland Spring everywhere. It really takes some doing to top that for the worst answer given in a single press conference, but all credit to them, they gave it a go.

Now few would argue that people who show genuine remorse for their mistakes deserve a second chance. The problem in Mackay’s case is that his unacceptable views were not an isolated slip-up. Nor, in my opinion, has he really shown “genuine remorse” as Stewart Regan claimed. Let’s examine.

Twice, he was asked on Thursday whether he conceded that what he said had been racist. Yes or no. Twice, he refused to answer the question directly, instead relaying the line about deeply regretting what he said, and affirming yet again that he had apologised to those the texts were aimed at.

Note the language he used elsewhere in the press conference. “Seeking out best practice”, “stakeholders involved with the SFA”, “access is an open-door policy”. It’s almost as if someone has removed the Alf Garnett chip from Mackay’s brain and replaced it with a Regan-approved one packed to the gunnels with inane business babble.

Regan’s response to a question about Mackay’s appointment sending out the wrong message to those pushing for equality in football was equally evasive, and nothing more than mealy-mouthed platitudes about the SFA’s equality strategy (they currently have the intermediate level of the equality standard, don’t cha know?). It was the corporate equivalent of saying “we can’t condone racism, we have loads of black pals.”

Still, the ducking and diving continued. Was it a hypocritical appointment given the SFA had dismissed Hugh Dallas from his job as Head of Referee Development for sending an offensive email? “We’re here to talk about the performance director,” came Regan’s response, “it’s about Malky Mackay and moving forward.”

But what Regan doesn’t seem to understand is that we can’t really move forward together in Scottish football unless there is transparency from the top, and the ability to answer a perfectly justifiable question in a straight manner.

No amount of foaming on about pathways and structures is enough to make up for the lack of accountability and, not to labour the point, the lack of genuine remorse that was apparent from the chief executive and new performance director of the SFA on Thursday.

Mackay could have said: “Yes, my language was racist, yes my language was homophobic and yes, my language was sexist, and I am truly sorry.” That sort of language might have gone some way to salving the wounds that his appointment has opened up among many in Scottish football who are either directly affected by his past comments or simply appalled by them.

The SFA’s flagship initiative to improve youth development in the country might be called ‘Project Brave’, but there was nothing courageous about the way both men danced around the central issue surrounding Mackay’s appointment.

By choosing not to directly confront the mistakes of Mackay’s past, these two men - who now collectively take over £450,000 a year out of our game, incidentally - effectively stuck two fingers up to the minorities and women who love the sport in this country and who are as much a part of the national game as anyone else.

The re-education courses, the seminars and the bland platitudes may have landed Mackay his plum role, and convinced the charity Show Racism the Red Card to commendably believe that he is sorry for his previous transgressions.

To me though, the whole press conference made me believe that Mackay still doesn’t quite get what all the fuss is about. Others may feel the same, but I doubt they belong to any of the groups that Mackay so offended.

I might be wrong, and I hope I am, but my overriding feeling is that the only thing he is sorry about is getting caught.