Hopes that the Scottish Rugby Union’s debt might be substantially cut by selling off a parcel of land next to Murrayfield stadium have been all but dashed after Gordon McKie, the chief executive, yesterday announced a review of the policy.

Despite losing the magic bullet that might have cut the union’s debt in one go, McKie painted a generally rosy picture of the progress being made in all areas, saying the union was getting on top of its financial problems, and despite a disappointing RBS Six Nations Championship, it was starting to make progress in playing and development terms.

McKie also gave a strong defence of his review into the Six Nations, which led to Frank Hadden, the head coach, remaining in position while George Graham, the forwards coach, was removed, and Alan Tait, the defence coach, lost his role but was then reinstated for the summer tour. He admitted that Hadden had played a large part in the review, but said he had also taken soundings from other highly qualified rugby experts, from the union’s council and board and from a selection of senior players.

“I am not one to settle for mediocrity,” McKie said. “I share the disappointment at the results in the Six Nations. I asked Frank [Hadden] for a report and I took soundings from other people, then I took the findings to the board. We decided there had to be changes, but that Frank was still the best man to lead the team.”

In reality, the review probably had little choice about recommending that Hadden should keep his job because alternative candidates are not exactly jumping out of the woodwork, but it has been criticised for its lack of independence and McKie confirmed that nobody from outside the organisation had been formally involved. He rejected absolutely, though, any suggestion that Hadden had fallen out of favour with the players. He said he had had a lot of discussion with a number of players and they had all backed Hadden.

He also revealed that apart from the headline changes to the coaching staff, with Andy Robinson and Sean Lineen, the Edinburgh and Glasgow coaches, being brought in to assist Hadden this summer, there had also been a number of changes behind the scene designed to improve the preparations, the most significant being giving Mark Bitcon, the fitness and conditioning coach, more time with the players away from international duty.

On the finances, McKie was generally upbeat, saying the debt stood at about £16 million, the lowest it had been for years, helped by the early sale of tickets for the autumn internationals and next year’s Six Nations games. The end-of-year figure that will be reported to the annual general meeting will be higher, broadly the same as last year’s, but in a year when there were only two home Six Nations games and a World Cup, that represented considerable progress - in the same circumstances four years ago, the debt grew by £8.4 million.

Part of the reason for greater optimism is that he feels the union is also starting to be seen as a genuine contender for hosting high-profile sports events outside rugby. They are in talks with the Rugby Football League about hosting the “weekend away” package that has just been staged at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and with the National Football League in America about hosting the European game that was held last year at Wembley. On top of that there is the chance of holding leading football games at Murrayfield, along the lines of the Heart of Midlo-thian v Barcelona game that was such a success last year.

To stay in that market, however, the union would need to retain the area around Murrayfield. Strips of land are to be bought under compulsory purchase orders for the Edinburgh tramway and for the Water of Leith flood prevention scheme, and if the union lost any more to housing or a hotel development, the vision of turning these leading events into a festival with a tented village on the land outside the stadium would be lost.