Alex McLeish ready for second spell as Scotland boss
Friday 16 February 2018 14:08, UK
Newly appointed Scotland head coach Alex McLeish says he is ready to make the most of leading his country for a second time.
McLeish says he has no regrets about leaving the role to become Birmingham boss but he is keen to make up for the disappointment of missing out on guiding his country to the 2008 European Championships.
"We were so close in 2007 here against the Italians. We had to win, although they beat us on the day," McLeish told Sky Sports News.
"It would be great, rather than to come within a whisker [of qualifying], to finally get to the European Championships in 2020 and the newly-founded Nations League, for us to win that little group.
"The only thing I regretted was not taking Scotland to the finals. There would have been no question of me leaving [then]. To take Scotland to a finals, there would have been no holding me back then.
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"But I wanted to manage in the Premier League, there is probably no better league in the world and I was itching to get back to the day-to-day stuff.
"I believe I am the man for the job and we have some exciting players coming through in Scotland.
"Michael O'Neill turned the job down and my little eyes lit up. I thought, 'I'm back in the frame again, maybe I've got a chance of getting it.'
McLeish believes he is a better manager than he was 10 years ago, with his spell at Birmingham followed by time as manager of Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, and he had spells abroad with Genk (Belgium) and Zamalek (Egypt).
"You get calmer and you see things a bit better" he added. "When you are young and just starting in your managerial career, you are still kicking every ball.
I believe I am the man for the job and we have some exciting players coming through in Scotland.
"So I think I am a better coach now than when I was last Scotland manager.
"I have not had a job the last couple of years in England but there are jobs I have turned down and I wanted to come back to a challenge I felt I had a good chance of doing something in.
"There's no greater one than your country."
