News about Alex McLeish

Since he succeeded Alex McLeish as Scotland manager five years ago, Steve Clarke has taken charge of the team against more illustrious opponents than Poland and on far more important occasions. In the context of the past year and more pertinently the crushing disappointment of the Euros, though, this felt hugely significant for him. Perhaps even definitive. Coming into this game with one victory in 12 matches, that against the might of Gibraltar, it was evident that his stock was falling before his side's flight to Germany was airbound.

By the summer of 2003, David Winnie was a 36-year-old footballer standing at the crossroads. His first management job at League Two Dumbarton had ended after 11 wins in 34 games. His playing days were done and the prospect of bouncing from one coaching job to another held all the appeal of a one-way ticket to the Siberian Steppes. It was time for something else. 'Dumbarton didn't finish well for me,' he tells Mail Sport. 'I just lost my enjoyment of football. I had become increasingly disillusioned with the game.'

SCANNING the walls of the room before his unveiling, Jimmy Thelin found himself in esteemed company. In his direct line of vision were images of Willie Miller and Alex McLeish. Gordon Strachan and Russell Anderson were to his right. Lurking behind him were Neil Simpson and Joe Harper. Each one a reminder of the way things used to be. Aberdeen's illustrious history is rightly celebrated in these parts. It's also been a burden for those who have tried in vain to emulate it.

FOR John Brown, Scotland defeats were always painful, in more ways than one. An Ayr United supporter from Prestwick, patriotic pride was less of a problem than his father Craig managing the national team. Deluged with well-intentioned tactical advice on where his old man was going wrong, he learned to do one of two things. Hold his tongue or join in. 'I've followed the national team as a footsoldier in the Tartan Army over the years,' he tells Mail Sport ahead of the first anniversary of his dad's death at the age of 82. 'I remember one game away in Belgium (in 2001) where we didn't turn up and lost 2-0. A friend of a friend was giving it: "His tactics were all wrong".

Munich is a city close to Bryan Gunn's heart. A member of the Aberdeen squad who secured a goalless draw there on the way to lifting the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983, he returned a decade later with Norwich City and became the first - and only - Scottish goalkeeper to win in the Bavarian capital. He returns at the age of 60 with his wife and family to watch son Angus keep goal for Scotland in the opening game of Euro 2024 this week. By the end of a nervy 90 minutes against hosts Germany, he hopes to welcome a new entrant to an elite and exclusive club. 'I'm still the only British goalkeeper who has won against Bayern in Munich,' he tells Mail Sport. 'Norwich were 2-1 up heading into the final minutes of the game when I made my best-ever save.'

APPOINTED Rangers manager towards the end of 2001, Alex McLeish appreciated that the definition of insanity was repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Inheriting a side that had been second best to Celtic from pretty much the moment Martin O'Neill took charge the previous year, Big Eck took a tired old formula and threw it in the bin. Ahead of the 2002 Scottish Cup final, he redeployed his attackers in a front three in the belief that going man-for-man would spook the Parkhead club's settled defence. It would prove to be a shrewd calculation.

Rangers captain Barry Ferguson had missed twice from the spot at Dens Park three weeks earlier and, as the tightest of title races headed for final day drama, manager Alex McLeish needed to know who was taking over penalty duties. In the changing room at Murray Park, two players stuck up their hands. One of the volunteers was Spanish youngster Mikel Arteta, who'd bailed out the distraught Ferguson at Dundee by converting Rangers' third penalty of that remarkable match, with five minutes to go, to salvage a precious point and keep their SPL hopes alive. The former Barcelona and PSG midfielder had shown maturity way beyond his years and treble-chasing McLeish, in his first full season as Rangers manager, was happy to hand Arteta the responsibility as the Old Firm title tussle went right down to the wire in May 2003.

A PICTURE has the capacity to say more than a thousand words. The aftermath of Celtic's win over Rangers in September was a case in point. The return of Brendan Rodgers to Celtic wasn't met with universal acclaim. Memories of the Northern Irishman performing a midnight flit to join Leicester City in February 2019 raised issues of trust among supporters tired of being let down by managers who expressed their love for the club one week, then packed a suitcase the next. After all that syrup on the pitch about the late Tommy Burns, Ange Postecoglou fled for Spurs as fast as his legs could take him. If an English club came back in for Rodgers, there was an obvious suspicion. He'd be next.

JAMES SHARPE: a 700-word article chronicled the events of the 24th annual Birmingham Cattle Show, a showcase of the finest 'fat cattle, sheep, pigs, roots, corn, and implements' Another study on the same network was much less prominent. A football match between England and Scotch Elevens was played at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, on Saturday afternoon.' It was all about 124 words, and that included the teams. How different football has been these days.

Legends from both past and present of Scottish football came out at Ayr Racecourse on Tuesday to pay their respects to former Scotland manager Craig Brown, who died on Tuesday at the age of 82. At a service at Ayr Racecourse, West Ham boss David Moyes paid their respects to Brown who arrived wearing a black suit and tie with his father. During his first permanent managerial role up until 2002, Moyes served Preston until he was fired from Everton, with Brown replacing him as his successor.

BRIAN MAJORIBANKS: Alex McLeish, who fought through the blizzards in February 2018 to convince Scott McTominay to play for Scotland, was delighted to learn that the player, one of the most lethal goalscorers in Euro 2024-2424 qualifying, would emerge on Tuesday night as one of the country's best defensive midfielders. McTominay's debut as a ball-playing center-back by Steve Clarke, is now playing a more offensive role in the park's center.

Michael Beale led part of his Rangers revival last month with a few new signings. Now is the chance to boost your excitement about where he might play for the club in February. When considering the nine-point difference to Celtic that remains unchanged, the Ibrox players may appear to be running on the spot. Every Premiership match brings a mental challenge. They have been fantastic under Beale so far. Any manager deserves a win and a draw from ten league matches. Ange Postecoglou and his men don't appear to be blinking at all, which is the issue for Beale, of course.