Craig Levein a natural choice, says Walter Smith

Published on Monday 14 December 2009 22:02

WALTER SMITH believes Craig Levein is the natural choice to become the new manager of Scotland and has urged the Scottish Football Association not to fill the vacancy with a foreign coach.

• Rangers manager Walter Smith believes Craig Levein could handle the Scotland job. Picture: SNS

Dundee United manager Levein remains the bookmakers' favourite to succeed George Burley, who was sacked four weeks ago, as SFA chief executive Gordon Smith continues to draw up a short list of candidates – revealing yesterday that the governing body has an open mind regarding a foreign appointment, with 80 per cent of the applications coming from abroad.

Dan Petrescu, coach of Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni, who beat Rangers 4-1 at Ibrox earlier this season, and the widely travelled Italian veteran Nevio Scala are among those who have declared their interest in the job. Despite the calamitous tenure of Berti Vogts from 2002 to 2004, the SFA is prepared to consider another non-Scot.

But Rangers manager Smith, who has repeatedly ruled himself out of a return to the job he carried out successfully for two years after replacing Vogts, sees no need for the SFA to look beyond their own borders within which he sees Levein as the outstanding candidate.

Smith will go head to head with Levein at Tannadice tonight when Dundee United entertain Rangers in the rescheduled SPL fixture which was abandoned at half-time on 1 November because of a waterlogged pitch.

"I think it would be a natural thing for the SFA to look at Craig," said Smith.

"He took charge at Dundee United just before I returned to Rangers and he has done an excellent job in picking them up. Naturally I can see why he's been mentioned for the job.

"I would prefer the job to go to a Scot. My preference is definitely for someone of our own nationality to be in there. I don't think it's essential, but I do think it is preferable."

Burley admitted at the weekend he missed the day-to-day involvement of club management, to which he now hopes to return, during his generally unhappy spell in charge of Scotland. While Smith agrees that is a factor for anyone to consider before accepting the role, he does not feel it should discourage Levein or any other potential candidate.

"The job can be a wee bit of a frustration," said Smith. "But overall I think it is still a job with a great deal of prestige. I don't have any regrets about taking it and I thoroughly enjoyed my time as Scotland manager."

The Rangers manager's point has been backed up by the high number of applications received from abroad since Scotland began the search for another manager. SFA chief executive Gordon Smith yesterday said it reflected Scotland's continued high standing on the world stage, despite recent results.

Burley was the third successive Scot to fill the position after the end of Vogts' unlamented reign. It was thought that the difficulties associated with that experiment might continue to see other foreigners excluded. However, the chief executive confirmed that the SFA has thrown open the doors again.

Smith revealed that his fellow board members had already agreed to abandon the recent policy of selecting Scots, although he did confirm yesterday that Vogts was definitely not a contender to return.

"We've clarified it and discussed it," he said. "It's open to all nationalities.

"We made a point of asking: 'Are we going to open this up to every nationality?' The answer was 'yes'. That was unanimous.

"It opens up the level of candidates that you have. When the applications came in they were mostly from people abroad. It is the biggest number of applicants that we have got. If you don't allow that, then you do narrow the percentage of people you are talking to."

Smith said the number of overseas applicants made up 80 per cent of the total received so far.

"It just shows you," he said. "We might have an attitude here of 'Who would want this job?' but people from abroad still see Scotland as a strong football nation and still sense an appetite for the game here.

"These people want to be involved in it, so that's positive."

Smith pointed to the examples of Giovanni Trappatoni and Fabio Capello, the respective managers of Republic of Ireland and England, as proof that a foreign manager of a national side can adapt to a different environment. Deep knowledge of the game in the country is not an essential requirement.

"I wouldn't rule anyone out because of that," said Smith. "I think you can learn and get a new knowledge of the game and get to know players. There have been plenty of managers who have come in from another country and had success. Trappatoni is a good example, Capello too. People can settle in quickly thanks to advice from people and DVDs of past matches."

The chief executive confirmed that the SFA is still on course to have a new manager in place in time for the draw for the 2012 European Championships at the start of February.

"It's a difficult time of year," he said. "We would like to have someone in place for the 2012 draw."

"If we don't get him in by February, our next deadline is March. The ideal scenario is the draw. If that does not work out then we will go for the match (against Czech Republic] in March, which is another month."