IAN Maxwell could be only days away from becoming the big man at Hampden and that will be the best thing which could happen to Scottish football according to the man who first brought the soon-to-be Scottish Football Association chief executive to the national stadium
Eddie Hunter was in his pomp at Queen’s Park when, while scouting one player, ended up taking a teenage Maxwell on trial as well. The bold Eddie made a million decisions in all his years as a manager but this was one of his better ones.
The 42-year-old Maxwell is now odds-on to be given the biggest job in the Scottish game. Not even the SFA can mess this up. Surely.
Partick Thistle’s current managing director is popular and respected within the game – a real rarity – and was recently publicly praised by Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive.
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Hunter is a great man and, at 74, is still a regular face at his beloved Queen’s Park, but he could be a hard man to work with and indeed interview. Take it from this hack who, as a rookie, found him both hilarious and terrifying.
However, get him on the subject of “Big Maxi” – I might get into a spot of bother about this – and all you get is praise, plaudits and some reassurance that the SFA are going to do right by getting this man at the head of the table.
I have never heard Hunter being so nice about one of his players – and that counts for a lot.
“I am so proud of him,” said Eddie. “Ian is a lovely guy. Not once did he give me any trouble as a player. Everything I asked of him he welcomed with no problem at all. Any challenge put to him was met.
“There’s no way I could manage these days. My personality wouldn’t allow it. I’d be up on a murder charge within weeks. But Ian bought into what I was into. He was a right good player and the perfect footballer for any manager to work with.
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“So to see him now, as it seems, on the verge of becoming the chief executive of the SFA is fantastic for me and I am sure for the Scottish game as a whole, and that’s not me being biased.
“Maybe he has a bit more steel about him now and that will stand him in good stead.
“I was happy to see him do well at Thistle in the boardroom but it didn’t surprise me because of his intelligence and character. I know the clubs like Ian and will trust him. But he will do things his way. He’s no yes man, he’s his own person, and I can’t think of anyone better to get the job.”
Maxwell does owe Hunter a lot. Back in 1993, the Queen’s Park legend took a chance on a lad who he had never heard of before when there was hardly a huge queue of clubs lining up for this centre-half’s signature.
“I was scouting another player, went to see him, and when I asked him to come along to training he said he’d only come if his pal could come as well, and that was Maxi,” recalled Hunter of their 1993 meeting.
“I said yes. He might have been 18 at most but it wasn’t long before he was in the first team. He was great for Queen’s and did everything I asked of him. He was a clever lad. He was studying at the time and I think working in the building trade as a consultant, so he was always smart.”
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Maxwell and Hunter did get on well but the manager’s relationship with the Queens’s Park directors by 1994 had run its course.
“I got sacked, that’s football, and the first person to contact me was Ian,” said Hunter. “You can spend a lifetime waiting to come forward but he was on to me right away, thanking me for what I had done for him, which tells you what kind of man he was and is. And when he signed for Ross County, he phoned and again thanked me for helping him getting that move, and I had been away from Queen’s for a few years. He is a first-class human being. I can’t speak highly enough of him.”
When Maxwell does sit at his desk in the big office, chances are his in-tray is going to be a lot larger than Donald Trump’s seems to be. Well, his new job is more important.
There is a lot for him to get done, with one of the major issues being what happens with Hampden Park itself. It’s an area Hunter is glad to see an old boy of his in charge of.
“Ian will back Hampden, I’m sure,” said Hunter. “And having been a Queen’s player he will know what the stadium means to the club. He will fight both corners.”
Eddie Hunter, a star of the old school, added about the game’s new numero uno. “I will put it this way. Ian Maxwell is the kind of guy you would hope a daughter would bring home.”
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