If there was a surprise this week with news that Leanne Crichton is set to take over at Rangers, the biggest eyebrows would have been raised at Petershill.
Crichton returned to the fold at Glasgow City only in November when she assumed the role vacated by Scott Booth as he headed back north to Aberdeen. If it was a homecoming of sorts for the former City and Scotland internationalist who twice played for City in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, it has been unable to live with the pull of [[Rangers]] and the chance to stand on her own two feet.
Crichton completed her UEFA Pro Licence this summer and, as well as BBC media work, she has coached with Motherwell and City since retiring. Taking over at Rangers will be her first time not as a sidekick but at the wheel.
Few would begrudge her the chance to take on what is clearly a huge role as she takes over from Jo Potter. But the timing of the appointment will be a source of some consternation.
Rangers headed to Italy this week for the last lap of pre-season, with Crichton still in position at Petershill with City. Given the fact that the season kicks off in just over a fortnight, the lack of a compensation agreement prior meant that Crichton was still in at City this week as her new charges went through their paces under the sun in Italy. It is a bizarre turn of events.
It would have been in everyone’s best interests for Crichton to cut ties with a City side that – in a matter of weeks - she will now be in direct competition for when it comes to a title fight.
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Clearly, City are well within their rights to hold out for an adequate compensation package given that they are losing an assistant manager a fortnight before the season kicks off. They are also right to feel irked at losing a key member of their managerial team to their rivals.
In truth, there are few surprises really in the SWPL given how often teams play one another, but being privy to the preparations and plans for the season before heading to Rangers will have aggrieved City.
But from Crichton’s perspective, barely getting her feet under the desk before the curtain comes up on the new campaign means that she is straight into it.
She inherits a team that have lost six first-team players, including the fairly prolific Rio Hardy, so will have ample work to do in order to have a squad ready for what lies ahead.
The understanding is that Crichton was identified by the Rangers hierarchy as having what they wanted to take the club forward following Potter’s departure. That may well mean that the candidates who made applications for the job were not deemed up to standard or that finances were not on the same page from those, but it seems odd that the decision was not made some weeks back.
That would have alleviated some of the stress as the clock now ticks loudly ahead of an opening weekend where Rangers are away to Montrose.
On the pitch is where she will be judged with the remit for Crichton very much the same as it is for Russell Martin; go and win the league.
AND ANOTHER THING
Elsie Cook has written her story – ‘A Kiss fae Pele’ – with Tom Brown, a book that went on sale on Friday, priced at £22.
Most will be well aware of her role within Scottish women’s football and it is only fitting that she should be inducted into the SFA Hall of Fame. Better late than never. But in amongst the tales of meeting Pele and gaining the respect of Jock Stein, what resonated was the tremendous personal cost that came with what can only be described as a vocation to football.
Written in the Ayrshire vernacular, her tale of heading to Edinburgh, two small kids in tow, to hand in her notice as secretary of the SWFA after her husband had essentially offered her an ultimatum, is quite something. The heaviness she felt abandoning the post and then the swiftness with which she accepted the manager’s job at the same meeting had this reader cheering her all the way.
But it is easy to forget the sheer strength of character that was necessary for women such as Elsie Cook to withstand the massive societal pressures around their involvement in football. Pushing through that to advocate for the rights of women and of girls to play football required not only courage of conviction but a bravery that is difficult to truly appreciate.
AND FINALLY
You may have heard that Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses successfully defended their status as European Champions with a penalty shoot-out win over Spain.
Spare a thought for those Scottish based players who will return to the domestic fold in the next few weeks to hear all about it.
But while all is rosy in England’s garden, it illustrates that massive leaps that the game has taken south of the border will Scotland have fallen off the edge of a cliff.
Melissa Andreatta will know that she has her work cut out for her as she looks to steer Scotland towards Brazil and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027.
Qualification is imperative if Scotland are to push on in both a domestic and international sense.
