Football managers were the losers in January football transfer window

Transfer deadline day in Scotland was as exciting as it has been in recent years with some last-minute deals.

But what is apparent was the lack of authority few of the managers had in the decision-making process.

The two biggest deals was the double-transfer of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven from Dundee United to Celtic for a combined fee of £2m.

It represented another fantastic piece of business for the Tannadice club as they continue to make healthy profits from selling on young talent they have developed.

But with Dundee United already in the League Cup Final, still involved in the Scottish Cup and challenging for a European place, the supporters will be bitterly disappointed.

So too, you would imagine, will their manager Jackie McNamara. He’s just lost his two best players in the middle of a campaign.

Mackay-Steven was out of contract and joining Celtic anyway so you can understand United wanting to cash-in on him. But could they have kept Armstrong until the summer?

Any way you look at it, and with Ronny Deila’s side facing them in the League Cup Final, I’m sure some fans will now believe they’ve passed up their opportunity to win that one.

I know Jackie has already lost the likes of Andrew Robertson and Ryan Gauld and that is just life at a club like United.

However, I’m sure if he was given the option he would have rather kept Armstrong for the remainder of the season to try to help their bid to win silverware.

At least he’d have been consulted in United’s transfer activities which wasn’t the case with Kenny McDowall and Allan Johnston.

Rangers signed five players on loan from Newcastle United and the caretaker boss claimed he must play them all. That’s a first for me.

I’ve never known a manager to be told by the Board he has to play certain players. I actually think they’ll all be of a good standard and make Rangers better.

But every manager reserves the right to watch training during the week and decide what starting line-up to put out.

Let’s say one of the loan players has a terrible game the previous week. Does that mean he has to stay in the team? What message does that send out to the rest of the players? It’s madness.

At least McDowall had some sort of idea new players were arriving but Kilmarnock manager Johnston didn’t find out his best player had been sold until after the transfer window.

Why on earth he wasn’t kept in the loop is a mystery to me. The Board didn’t actually have to give him any say in the decision but should have at least kept him the loop.

It was bad management and enough to make him hand in his resignation. It is now such a messy situation when some simple management skills would have avoided that.