Leicester sacking said more about the board's fear than Craig Levein's ability

CRAIG Levein came to Leicester City at what turned out to be exactly the wrong time. When he arrived in October 2004 having come south from Hearts, the club had just come out of administration, there was no money, and it had landed with a very inexperienced board of directors in charge who feared the worst, and that was relegation from the Championship.

Craig was never going to be a quick fix, because he likes to build from the bottom up. But the directors did not want to be responsible for taking the club into the third tier of English football, and they panicked because they did not want that to be their legacy at the club. Craig paid the price of their fear. The board were scared of the consequences, but it happened anyway, four managers later. That wasn't Craig's fault.

When the end came in January 2006, Leicester had lost at Plymouth, and it was bad. Just bad. There was nothing positive to be said about the match. But when the directors acted to remove Craig from his position they had no contingency plan, leaving the team in the hands of Craig's assistant manager Rob Kelly, who is now number two to Allan Irvine at Preston.

Craig was unfairly treated and deserved more time than he was afforded. And as it has turned out, none of those directors survive at the club today.

The club was saved from extinction by Milan Mandaric taking over in November 2006, just a few months after Craig had been removed. Had Mandaric made his move a bit earlier, it is reasonable to speculate that Craig taking over as Scotland's national team manager might not be happening at this moment.

A lot of Leicester City fans now acknowledge that it was a bit too hasty to remove him at that time. The principles he put forward and the football he played were good. The idea that he was a failure is wrong; he wasn't given a chance to become a success.

His relationship with the fans and the players was pretty good during his 15 months in the job. The atmosphere in the dressing room, created by Craig along with his assistants Peter Houston and Kenny Black, produced a very good team spirit. But there was a hangover from administration at the club and the feeling around the place was not good – the club was flying by the seats of its pants. Craig had plans for what he wanted to do at the club but he had his hands tied behind his back. he was frustrated that it was not going as he wanted it to, but he remained determined.

His best signing was Mattie Fryatt from Walsall, whose goals kept Leicester up. He scored 33 last season, and has scored 10 so far this season. The great irony was that Craig signed the player who saved the club from relegation the very season he was sacked, but by then he wasn't around to see Leicester retain their status. Another of his signings, Patrick Kisnorbo from Hearts, became a firm favourite with the fans. Alan Maybury maybe less so, while Mark de Vries was questionable but even with that he still scored 10 goals. The fans were very upset when Kisnorbo left for Leeds, so he was the pick of the signings from Hearts.

It might look like Craig blotted his copybook but I don't think he did – the directors blotted their copybook. I don't think what happened at Leicester City would count against him if he wanted to come back down to England at some stage in the future. most people down here knew what was going on at the time, and people within the game were sympathetic to Craig rather than to the club. And just as importantly, I don't think Craig was soured by what happened.

I don't see why he would not get the chance to manage in England again. It's just that the fashion for the top clubs is to look abroad. I'm not writing Craig off, but the perception of who the top clubs should hire has changed.

Would he get a job in the Premier? It's not easy to answer because there are the top clubs and then there are Premier clubs, with a world of difference between the two ends of the table. Even if Craig did get a job in the Premier, you have to ask how much time he would get. A manager has just been sacked with his team sitting in sixth place in the league.

When the Scotland job first came up I had it in my mind it would good for Craig, because he is strong enough to get his way when he needs to. It didn't strike me that George Burley was interested in anything other than the first team, whereas Craig would want to know about the younger players coming through.

He would be a very good figurehead for Scottish football as a whole, and his appointment should be welcomed.

• Bill Anderson was the football reporter of the Leicester Mercury for 35 years until his retirement earlier this year