Stewart Fisher: The Alex McLeish saga hasn't gone away

That hiatus might just last a while longer. It is another fortnight until the SFA board are scheduled to meet again. Before then, the media will have the clinching of an eighth successive title to report, and the small matter of the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-finals. It won’t be too long before another Glasgow grudge match comes along to help keep minds off things a while longer.

This is a topic, of course, which runs far deeper than the long-term job prospects of one 60-year-old Glaswegian, a legend for both club and country who has also eked out some fairly remarkable results in his time as a manager. But the position of McLeish has become a lightning rod for an association hierarchy subjected to criticism verging on ridicule in the wake of the 3-0 defeat to the Kazakhs and a humdrum, if rather par for the course, 2-0 victory in Serravalle. The newspaper outlet which suggested that McLeish would be gone in 24 hours may have been getting slightly ahead of themselves but this issue hasn’t gone away and this summer comes at a time of flux for the SFA.Whatever the rights and wrongs of the appointment process which alighted at McLeish’s name after the failed pursuit of first Michael O’Neill then briefly Walter Smith in February 2018, the SFA board stood four-square behind McLeish on that occasion.

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While it is to his credit that he already has a Euro 2020 play-off in his back pocket, that only means something if there is a wider confidence that he is the man to get us through it and the March double header has driven a coach and horses through that. Not only will it be instructive indeed to see whether that confidence remains when the board next get together, the arithmetic of that seven-man body is likely to change significantly this summer.

With vice president Rod Petrie of Hibs elevated as a matter of course to president in June, Alan McRae’s time on the board will have come to an end. With chief executive Ian Maxwell already known to be closely aligned to the clubs from his time at Partick Thistle, a new vice president will be required. Should Alloa’s professional game board representative Mike Mulraney put himself forward, that would leave a vacancy for another SPFL figure.

All of which means that - even with the old school Petrie as figurehead - the modernisers would finally hold sway. As prime minister Teresa May would perhaps tell the Hibs chairman, being the leader isn’t quite so much fun when you can be outvoted on everything.

McLeish’s position is just a small part of this epic power play. Because if everything goes well, this summer could finally see a proper marriage between the SFA and the SPFL, the kind of common purpose long yearned for and which lies beneath every smoothly-functioning sport.

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On the other hand, football – or should I say men’s football - simply isn’t like any other sport, because unlike development clubs in athletics, tennis, rugby or the women’s game which bring on talent then pass the most talented ones onto governing bodies. Clubs such as Celtic and Rangers are global brands with their own mission statements which often stand independently of the SFA.

The league and the SFA may eventually end up singing from the same sheet but there could be an argument or two along the way first. There is a feeling, for instance, in the league offices that the SFA is an organisation which tries to do too much. In other words, it could benefit from doing less better. Running a tight ship, they wonder why the SFA needs more than 100 staff, and attempts do with a turnover of £30m than the FA down south achieve with £300m.

Player development is another source of potential dispute. In general terms, the clubs feel that is best left to them: it is they – after all - who work with them every day. The SFA, on the other hand, make great play of their performance schools and player development strategies. They could point to the example of Falkirk, who had one of these establishments in their back yard, and still decided to jack their youth policy in. Or the ambivalent attitude many of our top sides currently seem to have about their players playing for the national team.

Wheels are moving in the background, but for now the impression outsiders have of Scottish football is a Brexit-sense of paralysis, where everyone has a fair idea what the right way forward is but no-one has the clarity of thought or political clout to drive past this network of various vested interests. Perhaps, if all else fails, the SFA could try a series of indicative votes at their AGM this June.