I’M READY FOR ECKOND CHANCE
McLeish urges SFA to give him a call as he eyes dream return to hotseat
ALEX McLEISH last night insisted he’s ready to manage his country for a second spell should the SFA give him a call.
And the former Rangers boss admits it would be a dream to be the manager who guides the Scots to a major championship finals. Big Eck is among the early frontrunners to replace Gordon Strachan who left the position after Scotland failed to qualify for next summer’s World Cup in
Russia. McLeish previously took charge of the Scots from JanuaryNovember 2007 before quitting to take over the reins at Birmingham City.
Under him Scotland won seven and lost three of his 10 games in charge and came within 90 minutes of reaching Euro 2008 when they lost their final qualifier 2-1 to Italy at Hampden.
The 77-times capped defender said: “I have not received a call but it would nice to get a call to see what the SFA’s thoughts are. There are a lot of good candidates out there.
“It would be a dream to be the manager who takes Scotland back to a major finals. It is all hypothetical but the only way we find out about things is through creative discussion.
“It may be the SFA already have their ideas and you have to give them all the respect in where they want to go.”
However McLeish reckons he is better equipped and more experienced to handle the international stage this time round and that he still has more to give.
He also insisted he would be in it for the long haul this time.
The 58-year-old admitted he was still haunted by the 2-0 loss away to Georgia when he stuck by the same team and formation that had defeated Ukraine 3-1 at Hampden days before.
But McLeish insists even the best managers have called it wrong once in a while.
Speaking on behalf of BT Sport, at the SPFL Betfred League Cup media day at Hampden, McLeish said: “The age I am at, I still feel I have a lot of mileage in me for any chance. I have done a lot of fire-fighting in England and got a lot of books balanced and also kept teams competitive.
“The international challenge is different in you are not wheeling and dealing and you’re trying to get a bunch of guys to play to outstanding levels.
“We are very close now. I know we have been saying that for a long time but Gordon finished with tremendous momentum. It was an incredible run of games.
“If I could turn the clock back I would change the approach to the Georgia game.
“When I kept faith in the same team who had expended a lot of energy. We also stuck with 4-4-2 and it clearly never worked.
“In this game you never stop learning even if you are as experienced as Sir Alex Ferguson, he still made mistakes. When it comes to those levels the fine detail has to be there.”
Meanwhile the SFA has been given a “hands-off” warning by Dubai club Al-Nasr who insisted Cesare Prandelli won’t be quitting to become Scotland manager.
Our sister paper the Sunday Mail exclusively revealed the former Italy boss was linked with a shock move to take charge of Scotland.
Prandelli, 60, led his side to a win against Dibba Al-Fujairah at the weekend but refused to respond to speculation.
But the United Arab Emirates club have made it clear former Roma, Fiorentina and Valencia boss is under contract.
Al-Nasr executive director Hamad Al Falasi said: “Prandelli will not leave the club to manage the Scottish national team.
“He signed a two-year contract in May and we have no intention of dispensing with his services.”