Alex McLeish and Rangers certainly go away back, but it’s clear there should be no reunion between the pair.
McLeish is now the supremo in charge of Scotland and tasked with leading us to an international tournament. By the looks of things, it’s already looking like a terrible appointment.
In the past, the former Rangers hero has been proven to be tactically inept with the Scots. The national side lost 2-1 in Israel inexplicably, whilst performances have generally been dreadful. Since being appointed, McLeish has won just two out of seven fixtures. Those wins came against lowly Hungary and Albania.
Yet, Rangers came so close to actually giving their former manager a shot at Ibrox last season. When Pedro Caixinha was sacked, the Rangers board needed to point somewhere.
It would’ve been so easy to look at McLeish as a “safe pair of hands”. That’s one of the most ludicrous terms in football, but it would’ve been used had he been appointed.
Despite the fact that Graeme Murty didn’t work out in the end, it could’ve been a lot worse under McLeish. The former treble-winner at Ibrox has had his career go in a steep downward trajectory since then.
Few bright spots
A profitable first tenure as Scotland boss saw him come so close to qualifying for Euro 2008. This was despite being in a group with France, Italy, and a strong Ukraine. It was one of the brightest moments of McLeish’s managerial career.
Since then, spells at Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, Genk, and Zamalek have all ended in disappointment. He’s failed to rebuild his reputation in several different countries now. Apparently, that was enough to warrant being given the Scotland job once more.
McLeish’s latest squad holds in it the likes of Steven Fletcher, Graeme Shinnie, and Kevin McDonald. Three players, who, if we’re all being honest, aren’t good enough for international level. How Shinnie and McDonald can get called up over several others in his position is mind-boggling.
He continues to stick with the same old faces such as Charlie Mulgrew, whilst Oliver McBurnie is clearly not yet cut out for this level.
Hopefully McLeish can turn things around with Scotland. It would be sensational to see the country at a major tournament once more. Many Rangers fans and fans of other clubs have mixed feelings on the national side.
For Rangers, however, it’s so far continuing to play out that they avoided a bullet in not signing up the faltering McLeish.
