SFA fight to keep McLeish
27 Nov 2007 - 08:31:55
The Scottish Football Association are determined to ensure Alex McLeish remains Scotland boss as speculation intensifies that the former Rangers and Hibernian manager is set to hold talks with Birmingham City.
The Blues have been denied permission to approach McLeish as they look to find a replacement for Steve Bruce who has left St Andrew's and taken up the managerial reins at Wigan Athletic.
SFA chief executive Gordon Smith insists he would prefer to keep McLeish rather than receive compensation from the Premier League strugglers.
McLeish is under contract until 2010 and it is believed that he has a clause in that deal which guarantees the SFA almost £1million in compensation if he moves on.
However, Smith said: "We've been officially approached by a club but they've been advised they can't speak to Alex at the moment.
"We're not looking for compensation, we're looking to retain Alex as manager.
"We've held discussions with Alex about extending his contract already and hope it's an option he'll still consider."