Scotland Women taking their time to get right person as head coach

Scotland Women might have to wait until after their next fixtures for a new head coach to be in place.

Fiona McIntyre, the Scottish Football Association’s recently-appointed head of girls’ and women’s football, has joined the search for Shelley Kerr’s replacement after taking up her role in recent weeks.

Kerr stepped down on Christmas Eve after Scotland’s European Championship hopes ended and Stuart McLaren stepped up to take interim charge of the two final qualifiers.

There is an international window in June before the World Cup qualifiers begin in September and it might be the latter date when a new head coach takes charge of their first game with the SFA determined to get the appointment right.

McIntyre stated the recruitment process was going “really well” and added: “It started pretty much as soon as Shelley left the post towards the end of last year. I have come in more recently and picked up with Andy Gould, the new chief football officer, as well as (chief executive) Ian Maxwell, and we are trying to progress that along.

“Something we are absolutely all agreed on is that it’s a really key appointment for the association so it’s something we want to get right.

“We are trying to cast our net far and wide to make sure we get the best calibre of candidates possible, and importantly we want someone who can take us back to major tournaments because that’s where we believe that team belongs.

“We have been accepting applications and will continue to do that for the next few weeks but we have also been proactively trying to identify candidates that fit the profile. In a few weeks we will start refining the longlist into a shortlist.

“In a ideal world we will get them in for June for the next international window but the main thing is we get the right person and that they are in post for those qualifiers in September.”

The SFA will consider men and women for the role.

“The most important thing is we get the best person for the job, someone with the skills, expertise and experience, and, importantly, someone who shares our ambition,” McIntyre added.

“It’s not important if it’s male or female, it’s absolutely about getting the right person to take us forward.”