'Not going to stop him': Scottish football told to be braced for change as update given on under-21 boss hunt

As if qualifying for a World Cup for the first time in 28 years wasn’t enough, Maxwell had to spring into action straight after Scotland’s group-stage elimination when head coach Steve Clarke handed in his resignation.

Alongside newly-appointed chief football officer Craig Mulholland, Maxwell led the SFA’s near two-month search for Clarke’s successor. They have handed upon Sebastien Pocognoli, a 39-year-old Belgian formerly of Monaco and Union Saint-Gilloise, and a man expected to shake up football in this country.

“It's been a long 50 days,” said Maxwell. “It's been a brilliant thing to be involved in. We are really lucky to be in a job that lets you have a huge say in who's going to be the next Scotland manager.

“I've actually really enjoyed it. Craig and I did a lot of work, assessed a lot of candidates, and spoke to a few people. I am absolutely delighted with the with the appointment we've made. He's one of Europe's most sought-after young coaches. He's definitely left-field. I don't think he's anything anybody was expecting, which is a good place to be.”

Pocognoli is a far cry from Clarke, both in terms of background, age, profile and football philosophy. A fresh-faced Scotland will take to the pitch next month in Ljubljana to start their Nations League campaign against Slovenia. The public may be in for a surprise. “They better be ready for it - because it's coming,” exclaimed Maxwell. “We're not going to stop him.”

The CEO is adamant change is required. “I think in a lot of aspects, Scottish football needs to modernise itself,” Maxwell continued. “We need to think differently about how we do things across a range of areas.

“Some guys have said, ‘Oh, it's a gamble, no international experience’. It doesn't matter. There's no correlation between international experience and success. There's no correlation between the age-old, ‘Oh, an international manager has a long, distinguished club career, and then when he gets to an age, he goes and works in international football’. The game's not like that anymore.

“You have to look at what is going to bring us success on the pitch When we looked at countries who have done better than us over a period of time, and how they've done it, and why they've done it, and what their playing styles look like — all those different bits come together.

‘It was always going to be different’

“Listen, it’s not an easy fix. There’s not a silver bullet. If everybody knew what the answer was, everybody would be doing it and nobody would ever lose a game of football. That's not how it works. It was always going to be different. Steve had been here for a while. A freshness, a fresh voice, you know, different training sessions, all the things that Seb will bring.

“We were coming at it from a slightly different position. Normally when you're looking for a new head coach, you're looking for one of two reasons. Either it's been rubbish and you need to rip it up and start again, or it's been brilliant and really successful and somebody has come and taken them away. We were in the middle of that, probably towards the successful side, but not quite there.

“The expectation in the country is now that just qualifying for tournaments isn't enough, and we were very open about that with Seb and everybody else we spoke to. Somebody is going to have to come in and and take us on to the next level because that's what everybody expects.

“That's what we want to see, that's what the players want, that's what the country wants. It's a big opportunity. He's obviously got seven years of a core squad of a group that are now experienced in international football. They understand what it takes to qualify, understand what tournament football is like, and we need to use all the foundations that Steve and the the guys have set over the length of seven years and and take that on to the next level.”

It was put to Maxwell that the cards could have fallen differently for Scottish football had Clarke - who started the summer by penning a new four-year contract - not walked away from Hampden a matter of weeks later. “We are where we are,” said Maxwell. “It doesn’t matter how you get there. Let’s not get too hung up on the whys and the what-ifs.

“It has given us an opportunity to look at things again, and we are really comfortable, really confident with where we've got to.”

Have the SFA had to push the boat out in terms of a financial package for Pocognoli? Maxwell was not committal. “It is a package that we were willing to pay and he was willing to accept. It’s not really about the numbers, it’s just about making sure everything was the right fit.”

There are more pieces of the jigsaw to come. Pocognoli will now spend the next few days putting together his back-room staff, while the SFA still needs to appoint an under-21 manager.

“We're getting there,” admitted Maxwell. “We've had a few conversations over the last couple of days to try and get things sorted. We'll get there as soon as we can with that. It has been a really busy period.”

Pocognoli won’t have carte blanche on who comes in. “In terms of him having an influence in that side, there will certainly be a conversation as to who we select and why,” said Maxwell. “They are more association appointments to be fair. Again, that’s something we haven’t done well enough as a country.

“I think managers in Scotland are too involved in all those things that happen further down the club. It should be the club or the association that sets the strategy. The head coach comes in and does the job of a head coach.”