Scotland opts for short-term fix as Alex McLeish is confirmed as the new boss

Alex McLeish was finally unveiled as the new Scotland manager at a press conference yesterday. He was offered the job a week ago, but the official announcement was held up by negotiations over the length of the contract, with McLeish wanting a deal that lasted until the summer of 2010. He got his way, and yesterday insisted that he intended to honour the contract in full. So, it seems he will be in post for the next 3 ½ years – which might just be a year past his sell-by date.

To be fair to the Scottish Football Association, they have got their first choice for the role. Shocked by the sudden defection of Walter Smith to Rangers, they needed someone who could offer continuity, and hopefully build on the work Smith did to restore the pride of the national team after the humiliation of the Berti Vogts reign. That meant appointing someone Scottish, and with the SFA keen not to pay compensation to prise their chosen man out of a contract somewhere else, the shortlist of suitable candidates was just that – short.

On that basis, McLeish is the obvious choice. Not only is he Scottish, he is an ex-international, having won 77 caps for his country. He also had the best managerial record of any of the candidates on offer, and – crucially – was available.

Yet that last point is instructive. For all his achievements –in particular winning 7 trophies in 4 ½ years at Rangers – his abilities are not universally admired. By his own admission, he had wanted to get back into club management after leaving Ibrox, but the job offers just weren’t forthcoming. Alex McLeish has managed 3 clubs so far in his career, and at each the pattern has been the same – initial success, followed by disillusionment. Motherwell finished as runners-up to Rangers in his first season, before slipping towards the other end of the table by the time he left. At Hibs, he created a swash-buckling, attacking team, that then got stuck in a rut before he left for Rangers. In his first full season there, he won the title back from Martin O’Neill’s Celtic, and won plenty more trophies, but his last season was deeply disappointing.

McLeish is a good man manager and motivator, but a sometimes naïve tactician. Once his initial galvinising affect on a squad wears off, he has been found wanting in setting his team up to get results week-in week-out. And his record in the transfer market is patchy.

It’s possible that these weaknesses won’t matter. The tactics of the Scotland team have been broadly defined by his predecessor, and McLeish has already said that he intends to follow that blueprint. Roughly, it means 4-4-2 against weaker teams, and 5-4-1 against the big boys, underpinned by disciplined organisation and a high work-rate. It’s not pretty, but undeniably effective.

Meanwhile, his transfer record has less relevance in the international context (although an eye for a player, and how they can fit into the team, would be useful). His broader management experience, plus his history as an Aberdeen player, will hopefully mean he is willing to look beyond the obvious Old Firm squad lists, and pick players from other Scottish clubs who can do a job for the national side. With a Scotland B fixture against Finland on 7th February, he has an early opportunity to reveal his thoughts on players on the fringes of the squad.

What is certain, though, is that Scotland needs a fundamental review in terms of its approach to sport, the national game included. There are more young players coming through than there were 5 years ago, although that is down mostly to the serendipitous fall-out from the collapse in SPL TV revenue, which forced clubs to hive off the imports on high wages and promote kids into the first team. There is still a shocking lack of decent facilities across Scotland, and not enough children playing football (or any sport). Of course, it’s not the national manager’s job to rethink Scottish sport from the ground up, but they can prove a powerful advocate for change if they are committed and passionate enough to influence the powers that be. Gordon Strachan identified this as a critical issue when he was in the running to succeed Berti Vogts. There is no indication that McLeish sees his remit as extending this far.

Still in his 40s, there is no doubt that McLeish sees the Scotland job as a stepping stone – make it to Euro 2008, and those lucrative job offers would surely start coming in again. And that might just be the right time for him and Scotland to part company.