Levein to control discipline - Smith

Posted Sunday, February 07, 2010 by PA

Gordon Smith has revealed Craig Levein will have complete control over disciplining his Scotland players as the Scottish Football Association bid to avoid a repeat of the 'Boozegate' farce.

SFA chief executive Smith admitted there had been "confusion" in the wake of the decision to hand lifetime bans to Barry Ferguson and Allan McGregor for flicking V-signs at photographers in April last year, days after the pair indulged in an early-hours drinking session.

Smith told the News of the World: "The manager is now responsible for all disciplinary aspects of the team. Craig will decide any things like that which arise in future."

He added: "Coming from the football side of it, I think it is something the manager should be dealing with. As soon as you take it upstairs, it leads to confusion.

"The manager should have total control over disciplinary measures, even from the point of view of saying to a guy, 'You're not going to be picked for the rest of this campaign'.

"The last manager had an input into it, but the decision over Ferguson and McGregor was a board of directors' decision and I felt it should go back to the manager.

"I'm not sure it undermined the manager the last time, but this is a decision which was put in place before Craig arrived."