Alex McLeish is a tax scammer who presided over an era of cheating at Ibrox, and who walked out of the job the last time the SFA hired him to run the national team. That’s it. That’s the be all and end all of this. Those are the facts of the case and they are undisputed.
The SFA board which hired him knows all this; every bit of information about that era is in the public domain.
His appointment is an affront to sporting integrity.
So as far as I’m concerned, he can talk nicely about Brendan, express sympathy for our players over the fiasco of the end of season friendlies and hire as many ex-Celtic players as he likes for his backroom team – which frankly I think is a load of bollocks anyway and as ridiculous as Strachan having to hire ex Ibrox coaches for his, all in the name of some perceived “balance” which just makes our whole game look absolutely barking mad.
None of it alters any of those facts.
Alex McLeish is unfit to be Scotland boss. His managerial career has been largely made up of failure. He has not managed at the highest level in years. His ideas are strictly out of the 90’s when what we need are fresh ones and a new approach.
It’s as simple as that, and our players can express their joy that someone with his “experience” is in charge as much as they like. I mean, what are they supposed to say? That the appointment is uninspiring and a step backwards?
What player do you know who ever did something so unprofessional?
None of it moves me, or anyone else opposed to this scandalous appointment. Not one inch.
None of it alters the simple truths of what McLeish is and what he did and none of it alters the fact that this appointment stinks so much that the head of the SFA introduced him at a media conference at which not one single question was allowed.
Everyone involved in this knows it reeks of amateur hour.
It was a lazy appointment, born of a mix of desperation and the arrogance to think they could pull it off without an uproar. And because most of the media are friends with this joker that gamble has paid off to a certain extent. For now. But he’ll be gone long before that two year contract is up.
In the meantime he can “reach out” as much as he likes.
Those of us who said he must never get the job have been ignored and side-lined. People who were opposed to it within the SFA have been railroaded into supporting it publicly behind “collective responsibility” although they know it’s an outrage and a disaster just waiting to happen.
Some of us are disgusted by this to a degree which will not allow us to simply “back him now he’s in the job.” He shouldn’t be in the job. It’s a personal thing as much as a football thing. His ascension to that role shows us how deep the contempt for us goes.
Nothing McLeish says or does will make his presence at Hampden any more palatable. Winning will not change it. Qualifying for major finals will not change it. His presence there says the cheating he presided over was okay.
It wasn’t okay. It will never be okay.
And that means he’s not okay.
McLeish already knows he needs Celtic and our players.
He’s at it.
He can stick his hand of friendship where the sun doesn’t shine.
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