Scotland's new chief football officer Craig Mulholland has revealed that Sebastien Pocognoli remains on the radar of Premier League clubs and that key players are excited about the new era under the Belgian coach.
Mulholland, who joined the SFA after a spell at Nottingham Forest, played a key role alongside CEO Ian Maxwell in unveiling Pocognoli at Hampden last week as Steve Clarke's successor. From his time at Forest, he knows the Belgian coach is still on the radar of some of England's top clubs, which gives him confidence they have the right man.
Players excited about new era
What sealed it for Mulholland was hearing the reaction to the news from some of Scotland's top stars, like Andy Robertson and John McGinn. As much as they enjoyed playing for Clarke and qualifying for three major tournaments, Mulholland says they are excited about working under Pocognoli.
He said: "You would rather start a new job with energy and really get at it, the way I've had to here. I had a joke with Ian, saying the good thing is that, at Forest last year we had four managers. So this is not exactly new."
"All joking aside, that did help. I know for a fact – because it's my job to know the intel of what other clubs are looking at – that Sebastien is on the list of many Premier League clubs."
Upward trajectory coach
Mulholland added: "At the start of this process, I didn't know about Sebastien the way I do now. But that's the strength of the process. It takes you to who your candidate is going to be. Sebastien spoke to a number of clubs and football associations during the summer."
"He's on the radar of everybody. But I'd rather take a coach who's on that upward trajectory. People talk about being safe. Well, we're taking one of Europe's brightest young coaches that people didn't think we could get."
"He might be young in his career. But all the data we've looked at tells us that's actually what's going to be most successful. And the biggest thing is that the players we've spoken to are excited. I could hear it in their voices."
Refreshing the squad
After Clarke's departure following an early World Cup exit in America over the summer, Pocognoli's arrival feels like a radical change in direction. The current squad needs an injection of fresh blood, which could see the likes of Lennon Miller, Robbie Ure, Josh Mulligan and Kieron Bowie introduced.
Mulholland plans to improve Scotland's talent identification process and says Pocognoli will scour the globe for eligible players. He said: "Remember when Wales were outstanding? We all thought that was because they had Gareth Bale. Or you look at Norway just now with Erling Haaland and you think it's all because of Haaland. But it turns out that it's not. That's a myth."
"The success of your group is dictated by your bottom end players – not the guy at the top end. Scotland's top-end players compare well, from a data perspective, with those from other countries. But what we need to do is refresh the group."
Mulholland cited the example of Ayyoub Bouaddi, who he saw playing for Morocco at the World Cup after previously seeing him represent France. He said: "We need to not be too proud to go after dual nationality players. We need to be aggressive in doing that. The second part is that we need to make sure we are giving opportunities to young players. That's the next bit we need to go after aggressively."
Mulholland insists he could have stayed in England but the lure of home – and the opportunity to create a lasting legacy at the SFA – was too tempting to turn down. He said: "I had a good opportunity to stay at Forest or at another Premier League club as well. The Premier League was brilliant, I loved it. But there was actually a chance to leave a bit of a legacy and change something here."
"I spoke to Ian and Mike Mulraney. Mike's words were that the SFA are more open to change now than perhaps they have ever been. That excited me. I could've earned a hell of a lot more money if I had stayed in England. But it's not about that. It's about saying maybe just once in your career, can you leave a bit of a legacy?"
"I accept that we might fail because if the country doesn't want to change with certain bits, that's OK. But let's give it a go and see if we can do something a bit different, a bit special."
