MALKY Mackay last night admitted he had no idea that SFA chief executive Stewart Regan would reveal he would not be taking over as Scotland manager before the Netherlands friendly last night.
Regan told talkSPORT yesterday afternoon that Mackay, the SFA Performance Director who had been appointed on an interim basis following the departure of Gordon Strachan last month, was not in contention for the position.
The 45-year-old had refused to rule himself out of the running for the job on a permanent basis in the build-up to the game against the Dutch at Pittodrie.
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Asked if he was aware that Regan would go public on his future prior to kick-off, he said: “No, obviously not. I’m up here in Aberdeen and I was thinking about nothing else than the game.”
The two men spoke on the pitch before kick-off but Mackay, who will now return to his role with the governing body, stressed his position with the national team was not discussed with Regan.
“He was asking me about the team and about the situation with Stuart Armstrong and Scott Brown," he said. "There was no way I wanted to discuss anything other than that. My head was getting ready for the game and that’s what the conversation was about.”
Mackay added: “I did enjoy it, but I know my role. They brought me into the role and they’ve asked me to commit to it. I’ve only been in it 10 months and the fact the last performance director wasn’t in it very long means there is a need for stability.
“That’s what I was asked to do up until two weeks ago when something changed at the top level. Because it was so close to the friendly somebody needed to take the team. Obviously I have a level of Premier League experience. But that was all I was asked to do - take the Holland friendly.
“I was really, really proud of the players. To play against Holland and end up with 18 chances on goal says something about them. They will be disappointed at not being more clinical and taking some of the chances, but I thought they showed real bravery."
Meanwhile, Dick Advocaat refused to be drawn on whether he would be interested in the managerial vacancies at either the Rangers or Scotland after leading the Netherlands to victory.
The former Ibrox manager will stand down from his position after a friendly against Romania next week - but he declined to say if returning to this country to take charge of either the national team or his former club was a possibility after that.
"I still have until Tuesday," the 70-year-old said when asked if he would consider the Scotland or Rangers positions.
Advocaat, whose side failed to reach the Russia 2018 play-offs, felt the Netherlands had deserved to win the match, but praised Malky Mackay's young Scotland side for how they performed.
Mackay handed debuts to Ryan Christie, Jason Cummings, who came on as a substitute in the final few minutes, Ryan Jack and McGregor and also gave run-outs to Kenny McLean and John McGinn.
Despite their inexperience, the home team dominated long spells of the game and only suffered their first defeat to 2017 due to a rare error.
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“I really enjoyed to be back," said Advocaat. "I have great memories of this country and this place. If you can win a game against Scotland it’s always a good feeling.
“We can always play better. But in the last five games we know Scotland did not lose. They lost this game.
"We had all the possession without creating a lot of chances. Scotland had a lot of players behind the ball.
"When that happens our individual players have got do something and we weren’t always capable of doing that because of the covering form Scotland. But it was a well-deserved win.
"With all due respect, I am watching my own team rather than my opponents. They were fighting unbelievably and trying to show they have futures at international level and impress their manager."
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