McLeish rules out Scotland return

06 November 2012 11:17

Alex McLeish has ruled himself out of the running to return to the Scotland manager's job but has thrown his weight behind the appointment of Gordon Strachan.

The Scottish Football Association board dismissed Craig Levein as national team boss on Monday "primarily due to the disappointing results in the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 Qualifiers".

However McLeish, out of a job since being sacked at Aston Villa at the end of last season, told talkSPORT: "I left the national team to take up club football. I felt I was missing the day-to-day stuff. I wouldn't like to be unfair to Scotland fans in terms of coming back to the job and being a hypocrite."

He added: "I don't want to come out and say I don't want the Scotland job, I'd never want to say that. But I do feel I've still got some time left in club football and that's what I want to focus on. There's nothing really pending, I had to have break after Aston Villa and now I've got itchy feet again."

Strachan has emerged as one of the favourites to succeed Levein and McLeish believes it would be a shrewd appointment.

"Gordon looks a pretty good choice to me," McLeish added. "He's had great success at club level with Celtic. Whether he wants to come away from his TV role, because he's very good at that, is a big decision for him to make."

Meanwhile, former striker Joe Jordan has also been mentioned as a possible successor to Levein.

Jordan, who served as first-team coach at Tottenham under Harry Redknapp, has welcomed reports linking him with the post.

"I know there will be a lot of names, a lot of speculation," Jordan, who has managed Hearts, Stoke and Bristol City, told BBC Radio 5 Live. "I am Scottish, I'm a proud Scotsman and a person that wants to work. And, for my name to be mentioned, yes, it's nice to be linked with the national job."

Source: PA