Sfa Took An El Of A Long Time To Make Novo Call

Nov 2 2008 Andy Walkers

THE SFA should have acted much earlier to end the tedious saga about Nacho Novo playing for Scotland.

It was a story that threatened to drag on longer than the storm over Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand's prank calls before a definitive decision was finally made on Friday.

The SFA got it right by ruling only players with a bloodline to the country should pull on a Scotland jersey.

But you have to ask why there were so many mixed messages coming from Hampden before they decided to stick by a gentleman's agreement with the other home nations.

And SFA chief executive Gordon Smith still left the door open for future chaos on Friday by admitting the situation could change if England, Wales and Northern Ireland agree to scrap their agreement with Scotland.

You have to ask why it took a week for the suits to come up with a definitive ruling on the Spaniard's chances of playing for Scotland.

It should have been easy to get president George Peat and chief executive Smith round a table with manager George Burley and Terry Butcher to discuss the issue.

But the four key men at Hampden only succeeded in confusing the punters at first.

Peat wanted the ruling to go no further than a bloodline to grandparents, Burley hoped he could exploit residency rules to the maximum, Butcher thought it was absurd and demeaning to the country while Smith stayed silent.

Where's the unity in that? At least the SFA have now ended the uncertainty but they should have put the record straight as soon as the story broke.

I agree there must be a family link to Scotland before a player can represent us. If it goes past grandparents he shouldn't be in our squad.

I accept countries such as Croatia, Poland, Spain and Ireland cast the net far and wide when it comes to finding eligible stars.

However, we are right to insist there must be Scottish blood running through the veins of our players.

I'd love us to qualify for World Cup finals and European Championships again - but not at any cost.

Damaged Even if Henrik Larsson or Brian Laudrup in their prime declared an interest in pulling on a Scotland shirt it still wouldn't get me excited.

Both were marvellous players and lit up the Scottish game during their time at Celtic and Rangers.

But they're not Scottish and neither is Ibrox star Novo.

I'm happy to live or die by our own efforts - whatever happens.

To be fair to coach Burley I could understand why he wanted to keep his options open.

Events on the pitch will determine his success so he will look to exploit any rule that makes his job easier.

But he's employed by the SFA and Peat was quite vociferous in saying a bloodline to grandparents was where he'd draw the line.

I agree but the fact his comments came after Burley spoke out didn't look good. The president - who has already shown a lack of leadership in a job that's far too big for him - damaged the man in the firing line.

He allowed Burley to speak openly about such an important and potentially divisive issue then took the opposite view.

So you have to wonder how strong their relationship is right now.

After throwing away five points in our quest to qualify for South Africa in 2010, Burley is a man under enormous pressure. His Scotland reign has been far from smooth and the fall-out with Rangers striker Kris Boyd put him under even more scrutiny.

At times like these the coach needs everyone around him at the SFA to stand strong and firm.

But the way hewas treated last week proved the men in charge of our game are far from united.

Burley's boss told him through the media that his wish to explore the residency rule was a non-starter.

And he needed to wait days for official confirmation that Novo would not be made available to him.

The saga was a shambles and you have to wonder if it will end up affecting results on the pitch.

If there was tension before the Novo issue cropped up thanks to poor results it must be even worse now.

Having diverse opinions on such an important matter hardly helps with a sense of unity as we try to get back on track for a place at the World Cup.

Scotland's next game is a cracker as the legendary Diego Maradona brings his Argentina squad to Hampden for a glamour friendly.

Let's hope we can put the Novo story behind us and concentrate only on the football again.