By Alasdair Reid
Last Updated: 8:54PM BST 14/06/2011
After a few days of fevered speculation over the future of Scottish Rugby Union chief executive Gordon McKie, his abrupt departure from Murrayfield on Tuesday was quickly followed by questions over whether he jumped or was pushed. The most likely interpretation of events is that he opted for the former before the latter became inevitable.

For all the organisation’s corporate checks and balances – chairman, council, board, trustees - McKie has had something close to full control of the Union’s affairs since his arrival almost six years ago. What he said went. However, since the announcement earlier this year that Sir Moir Lockhead would be taking over as chairman after the SRU’s agm later this month, it has increasingly become clear that McKie’s authority would soon come under much closer review.

In short, it seemed that McKie and Lockhead, the founder and former chief executive of FirstGroup, were on some kind of collision course. Wisely, both have chosen to keep their counsel on the matter, but if Lockhead’s reputation as a hands-on chairman is deserved, then it is easy to understand why McKie, something of a micro-manager himself, should have felt disquiet over his arrival.

Matters came to a head at an emergency meeting of the SRU board last Thursday. The rumour mill suggested that McKie had been threatened with disciplinary action and that there had been calls for his suspension, but the meeting produced nothing more than an anodyne statement of support for the current system of governance (which had never actually been questioned) and the current executive team (which had).

If that statement was an attempt to take the steam out of the affair, it backfired spectacularly. After a quiet couple of days, more rumours about McKie’s future began to circulate on Tuesday morning. Shortly after 4pm, another communiqué from Scottish Rugby headquarters confirmed that he was going.

Inevitably, it chose to dwell on McKie’s achievements rather than the controversies that swirled around him in his final days.

Allan Munro, the current chairman, and the man whose ringing endorsement of McKie after last Thursday’s meeting had been seen in some quarters as sport’s classic kiss of death, led the tributes. “Gordon has provided great leadership, accountability, stability and transformed Scottish Rugby in the past six years,” said Munro.

“He has achieved a great deal during his time as Chief Executive and, on behalf of the Board and the staff, we thank him sincerely for his extensive efforts in leading the development of our sport at all levels and rebuilding our reputation amongst many of our key stakeholders.

“Gordon has demonstrated a willingness and an ability to support the Board in the implementation of tough decisions that required to be made in the best interests of the game. Unlike 2005, when Scottish Rugby was close to insolvency, he leaves behind a solid platform and a stable financial base with significantly reduced debt, from which the next phase of developing the game in Scotland can be launched.”

McKie’s critics tend to believe that he would still be in his post had he done a bit of launching himself. As disciplined as he might have been with his financial controls, McKie’s failure to drive forward the business of Scottish rugby, and especially the professional sides at Edinburgh and Glasgow, was seen by many as a critical shortcoming.

His style of leadership had also been called into question, with accusations that he was abrasive and dictatorial in his approach. Again, those qualities might have been virtues in his earliest days as he sought to knock a wayward organisation into shape, but they looked more like liabilities in times when creativity and marketing nous were required. “He’s always looking for a fight,” said one Murrayfield source.

Jock Millican, one of the Union’s three non-executive directors, will take over from McKie on an interim basis. Millican won three Scotland caps in 1973, but it is his high-level business experience in the brewing industry that is his more relevant qualification. However, it is not expected that he will seek to fill the position on a permanent basis.

It may significant that Eamon Hegarty, the Union’s financial director, is not taking the reins on a caretaker basis. Hegarty is seen as a close ally of McKie, and his own job prospects do not look particularly rosy right now. A search for a new chief executive is likely to start soon, and the fact this is a Rugby World Cup year suggests that the process need not be particularly hasty.

“As a long standing supporter, I will always retain a great interest in rugby in Scotland,” said McKie. “I wish my successor and all those associated with the game every success in tackling the challenges that lie ahead.”

The Poisoned Chalice.
Scottish Rugby chief executives do not die in their beds. Gordon McKie is the third man to hold that office in the post-professional era – and the third to suffer a messy downfall.

BILL WATSON 1998 – 2003.
Watson arrived shortly before an administrative crisis sent the SRU into tailspin in 1998. One consequence of that was that the accountant and former Scotland flanker could no longer count on the support of the people who appointed him. With debts mounting he did well to survive until 2003, when incoming chairman David Mackay’s first act was to show him the door.

PHIL ANDERTON 2004 – 2005.
Anderton, popularly known as Fireworks Phil, was the marketing director who had succeeded in driving international attendances up after a slump in the late Nineties. He was the obvious man for the top job when Watson was ousted. However, in seeking root-and-branch changes to the game he moved too quickly for some conservative tastes and he was effectively forced out after just one year.

GORDON McKIE 2005 – 2011.
McKie was appointed with the ‘approval’ of the SRU bankers at a time when the organisation was close to bankruptcy. He turned his troubleshooter’s eye on the Union’s finances, instigated tight financial controls and brought the debt down to manageable levels. However, he did not drive the business forward and was held responsible for the commercial and sporting failures of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

This article was posted on 14-Jun-2011, 21:05 by Hugh Barrow.