Rae tips McLeish for Black Cats

Former Dundee boss Alex Rae insists one-time Rangers and Scotland manager Alex McLeish is the ideal candidate for the Black Cats vacancy.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes remains the bookmakers’ favourite to replace David Moyes at the Stadium of Light – but Rae has urged the club to give serious consideration to McLeish.

Rae, who was number two to McLeish at Belgian side KRC Genk and was in charge at Dens Park for two years from 2006, believes the 58-year-old has the experience to guide Sunderland straight back to the English Premier League.

He said: “For me, Sunderland need a manager like McLeish. Sunderland is a monster of a club. To be a manager there, you have to be able to deal with the pressures that come with the responsibility.

“McLeish has been at Rangers, had to deal with being a previous Birmingham City boss at Aston Villa.

“He is a big, big character. Not only that, he is a manager who has trophies coming out of his ears.

“He has managed at that level, won cups north and south of the border and even managed at international level and abroad.

“All you have to do is look at his win percentage in Belgium – it was about 54%. The same when he managed Scotland – it was about 70%.

““McLeish has got everything. He has presence when he walks into a dressingroom, can command respect and he has the man-management skills.”