LAST year's appointment of Gordon Smith as chief executive of the Scottish Football Association was a radical innovation, perhaps even a revolutionary act. Or so at least the first moments of this profile wanted us to believe.
Out went the old school of "bureaucrats and blazers," we were told over stills of Ernie Walker, Jim Farry and David Taylor. In came Smith, and just in case we were too slow-witted to perceive the intended contrast, the intro to This Charming Man, a s
ong from the Eighties by some other people called Smith, played in the background.
It was an assertive, confident start to the half-hour, and one which might have led us to think that what followed would be a stern examination of Smith's year and a bit in office to date. Was this unorthodox choice, of an ex-footballer and pundit rather than a career accountant, already proving to be a triumph? Or was the SFA daft as a brush to appoint this new broom?
Alas, such stark questions were never asked. SFA president George Peat turned up at the odd moment and growled in a manner which suggested he got on well with Smith and at least did not regret the appointment, but there was no real attempt to weigh up the pros and cons.
Instead, Smith was simply presented in a number of different situations – at the World Cup draw, getting in some training in the boxing ring, talking on the radio – and we were left to draw our own conclusions. Or at least we would have been but for Smith's own attempts every few minutes to talk himself up.
Early on, for instance, he reflected on the reaction to his appointment. "What made me laugh was people questioning my ability to do the job when I got it," he said. "I think I've got good business experience."
He went on to outline that experience, recalling how he worked for a firm in the 1970s. It was a responsible post, and the implication is he was doing it so well that rapid promotion would have followed had he not turned to full-time football.
Maybe it would have, but there's a gap in the logic there. He worked in a business in his early 20s, and had he stayed might have been a chief exec by now ... therefore he is ideally qualified to take up that post with the SFA?
Well, this writer qualified as a teacher a couple of decades back, and but for a change of profession I might have become a headmaster by now. Would a school board buy that argument if I used it while applying for a top job now? Don't think so.
And in any case, it didn't make Smith laugh when people questioned his ability. It made him annoyed. That's why he's still trying to correct that perceived slight.
What's more, it's not the only one. From Player To Power may have been broadly sympathetic to its subject, as it showed by referring to him in the first person, but it could not prevent him from coming across as a bit of a control freak.
At the press conference to introduce George Burley as the Scotland manager, for example, Smith allowed the new man a while to answer questions, then waded in with a lecture to the assembled media about the doubts expressed over the way in which Burley had been selected. "Some say I hijacked the press conference," he said later on a Radio Scotland show. "Eighteen minutes was a long way in."
Jim Traynor and Richard Gordon both then suggested it was not up to Smith to decide when Burley had talked for long enough, but he failed to get the point. For him, ensuring he put his own message across was paramount. Such an attitude should not be a surprise. This, remember, was the man who called his autobiography And Smith Did Score in an attempt to counteract the celebrated FA Cup final clip in which the commentator says "And Smith must score". (He did indeed score in the match, but not at that precise moment).
In that respect at least, Smith has yet to grow into the job. If someone says something you disagree with in private life you may be able to try to set them right, but there is simply no time to do so in public office.
You have to concentrate on the bigger picture, and leave the firefighting to others.
But of course, the more image-conscious you are, the harder it is to do so. And Smith is image-conscious all right.
Whether he has sufficient substance to counteract that shortcoming, time will tell. From Player To Power did not even begin to hint at an answer.
The full article contains 806 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
