Scott Mullen: Stewart Regan is not root of Scotland's problems, but he now has no hiding place

While O’Neill’s presence flew under the radar in the capital, a Scotland manager continues to be conspicuous by its absence in the eerily quiet corridors of Hampden Park. A chief executive who has the vote of confidence from his nation is another.

Stewart Regan will be in Lausanne this morning for the big UEFA event but his mind will surely be on other things. Well, you’d like to think so. Not only will he be expected to offer some sort of an explanation on the thought process behind the O’Neill manhunt which ultimately saw the Scottish Football Association shoot itself in the foot but, more importantly, he must also be pondering just how a rabbit is to be pulled out of the hat to turn around a tenure which has hardly set the heather alight. This must also be done while glancing over at O’Neill sitting resplendent with his IFA tie on across a crowded room.

Read more: Under-fire SFA chief executive Stewart Regan must answer for Michael O'Neill debacle to save his job

Since the former Football League chief was appointed almost eight years ago, his reign as the figurehead for the SFA has been marred by one thing after another. From referees strikes, criticism over his handling of the Rangers saga, failed performance director appointments, all the way up to Monday, where the campaign to bring O’Neill across the water to be Gordon Strachan’s successor ended in a custard pie. 

Regan didn’t have to look far to find his doubters prior to this week as the nation awaited the most important managerial decision. Now, even the grand setting of UEFA’s glitzy bash won’t protect him from difficult questions being asked. And quite rightly so. We have failed to qualify from all four international tournaments available since he got his feet under the table in the SFA boardroom. The deterioration of the profile of our domestic game coupled with the lack of progress – this season’s Celtic team excluded – of advancement on the European front are also great black marks next to his name. Project Brave? The jury is very much out.

However, amid the mud-slinging, finger-pointing and witchhunts, some perspective goes a long way. Strachan’s tenure in charge of the national team may have ended disastrously in Ljubljana, but he was in actual fact Regan’s only managerial appointment since joining in 2010 with Craig Levein already in charge. In fact, out of the six permanent head coaches to follow Craig Brown, only Alex McLeish in his 10 games produced a better win record than the man Regan put in the job. Prior to him arriving at Hampden, Scotland had failed to qualify for six straight tournaments.

The point of this? Regan rightly deserves flak for the way the protracted and perceived naive manner in which the SFA have conducted their business over the last three months, and it is not overstepping the mark to suggest he simply cannot afford to get the next managerial appointment wrong. But to hang him out to dry as the source of all of our international shortcomings is wide of the mark. 

Almost as much as claims that world football is currently laughing at us. Is the Milan Chronicle or the Munich Gazette dedicating dozens of column inches to cover the latest embarrassment to befall the once mighty Scotland? In a word, no. The Northern Ireland manager turning down the chance to be the Scotland manager is like the boss of Slovenia saying, ‘Thanks but no thanks’ to a flummoxed Hungarian recruitment panel.

Read more: Under-fire SFA chief executive Stewart Regan must answer for Michael O'Neill debacle to save his job

And that’s the point. It should not be forgotten just how far we had fallen from the days of the Stade de France, Buckfast down the Champs Elysees and Tom Boyd own goals.

Regan hasn’t taken us from world beaters to the dark shadows of underachievement on his own, but that in itself should have acted as a warning to him and the recruitment sub-committee that attracting O’Neill to join them was far from a given and therefore interviewing more than one person at this stage, even to say no to them, would have been advantageous. 

Even on the night of November 9 when Malky Mackay’s Scotland played the Netherlands, a member of the SFA party could be heard commenting positively on Northern Ireland’s demise in Switzerland. From that moment on it was clear this was a one-horse race.

Where do we go now? The answer is simple. Far and wide. The notion that a non-Scot cannot manage Scotland because of Berti Vogts is utterly preposterous – it simply means Vogts shouldn’t become Scotland manager. There is no hiding place anymore for Regan, and the same should apply to potential candidates for this job.

Recent international tournaments have been filled with non-nationals leading teams. Swede Lars Lagerback with Iceland, German Bernd Stock with Hungary, Martin O’Neill with the Republic of Ireland, even Jurgen Klinsmann with the USA. All nations with pedigree no bigger than that of Scotland. 

O’Neill will take off later this evening facing the prospect of getting Northern Ireland to Euro 2020 with an ageing squad. If ever we needed a reminder, that fact just emphasises the task facing Regan on the back of a turbulent few months if he is to salvage his reputation and that of our national game.