James Forrest: The new Scotland manager should be in before June double header

The Celtic winger, a man who produced some of his finest moments in a Scotland jersey under the reign of Alex McLeish, feels the SFA doesn’t see why the association can’t get the new boss in place in time to start getting his ideas over ahead of those games.

“Obviously it is a bit unsettling for everyone right now,” said Forrest, speaking at a McDonald’s grassroots awards event. “If they think they need a bit more time and just want to get someone in for the two games and someone permanently in the summer, they will probably be looking into that just now, but I think going forward the quicker they can get someone in permanently the more it helps everyone out.

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"Hopefully the new man can get his quad in the week before the Cyprus game and start putting his stuff across."

The SFA are not short of options when it comes to this appointment, with illustrious coaches such as Sven Goran Eriksson, Dick Advocaat and former USA manager Bruce Arena expressing an interest in working with what is a group of players with some potential. Homegrown managers such as David Moyes, Steve Clarke, Derek McInnes and Jack Ross are also in the frame, with the possibility of a role in the new structure for Forrest’s former Celtic team-mate Shaun Maloney. While it seems unlikely the SFA would make the current Belgium assistant manager the main man in his own right, Forrest for one reckons Maloney would have plenty to offer to the new structure.

“The games in June are massive games, obviously,” said Forrest. “The two qualifiers are really important and we’ve seen a few names being linked with the post and they are good names.

There will be a lot of managers wanting the job because it is a good job to go to – and we have got some really good players.

“I played with Shaun at Celtic and Scotland so I know what he is like,” the winger added. “[Dedryck] Boyata is now working with him at Belgium and he is telling me all the Belgian players are really impressed with him. Obviously he is doing well if somebody like Roberto Martinez has taken him on. If he came to Scotland I think that would be a really good addition.”

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Given Forrest’s importance to the Scotland set-up, it is good to hear him speaking with such conviction about the June games, the scheduling of which can become complicated for Celtic players who would require rest then build-up time ahead of Champions League qualifying ties in early to mid-July if they go on to clinch and eighth successive title. Kieran Tierney is one key member of the squad whose participation already appears in question.

Previously it has seemed unfair to expect anything more than simply reaching the group stages from the Scottish champions, but the example of Ajax – a largely homegrown unit who have made it all the way from the Eredivisie to face Tottenham Hotspur in a Champions League semi-final tonight – might just have blown those excuses out of the water. Forrest admits that the historic Dutch side – with whom Celtic’s directors are allied when it comes to carving out a niche in future restricting of European football – have thrown the gauntlet down.

“A lot of people have talked about Ajax putting out teams like Real Madrid and Juventus,” said Forrest. “I think a lot of the teams with lesser budgets will take a lot of confidence from that because they have showed what can be done.

“Celtic have been successful in Europe before so it would be good to get back to that and Ajax have showed what’s possible.”