Alex McLeish’s reign as Scotland manager was doomed to failure from the outset, following the SFA’s decision not to extend Gordon Strachan’s contract, the former Rangers boss was again chosen to lead his country to the promised land of a major international tournament for the first time since 1998.
Revelations reported in The Daily Record by his assistant and current Alloa manager, Peter Grant, has increased speculation that all was not well under McLeish and that he was fighting a constant battle to be a success.
In an ill tempered interview on BBC Sportsound, Grant said about an incident when McLeish was alleged to have forgotten the team line-up but had in fact become unwell:
“The team was named. We were ready to leave for the match. Alex was going to have a couple of minutes with the boys”.
“The team is already named and everything has been done. Five minutes before we go we go in to have a final talk with three members of staff and the players”.
“Alex stood up, said something then. ‘Excuse me a minute guys’ and walked off. He said to me, ‘I’m just not feeling right,’ it was nothing to do with the team being named or the organisation”.
“The thing that frightened me was by the time we got back the story was out”.
Despite leading Scotland to UEFA Nations League success by guiding them to a play-off spot, McLeish was sacked following a 3-0 capitulation to Kazakhstan in their Euro 2020 qualifying group.
McLeish’s tenure was beset with retirements and call-offs with rumours of dressing room unrest that now look like a reality after Grant’s latest comments. When a player or close member of staff is leaking stories to the press from within the confines of the dressing room, it reveals a fractured relationship between the man in charge and those under his instruction leading to the inevitable outcome.
One belief was that the Tartan Army never accepted McLeish because of his club allegiances and the way he left Scotland to return to club management in his initial spell.
Was McLeish harshly treated by the Tartan Army?
Yes
No
Current Scotland manager, Steve Clarke, has yet to set the heather alight as he looks to build a side capable of progressing through the Nations League pathway to the Euros but at least he seems to have the support of the press and the players in, what once seemed formality, has now become the impossible task, guiding Scotland to a major tournament.