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Alex McLeish

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Alex McLeish
Alex Mcleish in 2012
McLeish as Aston Villa manager
Personal information
Full name Alexander McLeish
Position(s) Central defender
Youth career
Glasgow United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1978–1994 Aberdeen 493 (25)
1994–1995 Motherwell 3 (0)
Total 496 (25)
International career
Scotland U-21 6 (0)
1980–1993 Scotland[1] 77 (0)
Managerial career
1994–1998 Motherwell
1998–2001 Hibernian
2001–2006 Rangers
2007 Scotland
2007–2011 Birmingham City
2011– 2012 Aston Villa
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alexander "Alex" McLeish (born 21 January 1959),[2] is a Scottish former professional footballer who was most recently manager of English Premier League club Aston Villa in 2011. Born in Glasgow, McLeish played as a central defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for Scotland.

He started his managerial career with spells at Motherwell and Hibernian, before guiding Rangers to two championships and five cup wins in five years. McLeish spent ten months as manager of the Scotland national team which narrowly failed to qualify for the finals of the 2008 UEFA European championship. He then resigned this post in November 2007 to become manager of Birmingham City, who were in the Premier League at the time. Though Birmingham were relegated at the end of the season, McLeish guided them back to the Premier League in 2009, a ninth-place finish in 2010, and victory in the 2011 League Cup final, before they were relegated once more at the end of the 2010-11 season. Following relegation he resigned his post at Birmingham to take up the reins at city rivals Aston Villa. This made him the first ever manager to move directly from Birmingham City to Aston Villa, and only the second manager after Ron Saunders to manage both clubs.

In recognition of his distinguished service to Scottish sport, in 2008 McLeish was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Aberdeen.[3]

Early years

McLeish was born in Duke Street Hospital, Glasgow to parents Alex, a shipyard worker, and Jean.[4] He has younger siblings Angela and Ian. After living in the Parkhead and Kinning Park districts of the city, the family moved to Barrhead, Renfrewshire soon after McLeish had reached school age. He attended Springhill Primary, Barrhead High School, where he was one year below future Aberdeen and Scotland teammate Peter Weir, and John Neilson High School in Paisley.[4]

As a juvenile he played for Barrhead Youth Club, alongside Weir, and Glasgow United as well as training for a short period with Hamilton Accies. After a local cup final with Glasgow United in 1976 which was watched by a delegation from Aberdeen, including then manager Ally MacLeod, McLeish signed for the Pittodrie club the following day.[4]

Playing career

Aberdeen years

McLeish spent the majority of his first two seasons at Aberdeen in the reserves and also had a loan spell at local Junior side Lewis United. He made his competitive debut under Billy McNeill in a New Year fixture against Dundee United on 2 January 1978.[4] His first major final appearance was under the management of Alex Ferguson as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat to Rangers in the 1978–79 League Cup. Over the next seven seasons however, he enjoyed great success winning eight domestic and two European trophies. Highlights included scoring in a 4–1 victory over Rangers in the 1982 Scottish Cup Final on his 200th Dons appearance and a European Cup Winners' Cup win over Real Madrid in 1983.[5]

During this period, McLeish formed a formidable defensive triumvirate with Willie Miller and Jim Leighton for both club and country. When Ferguson left in 1986 to go to Manchester United, he tried to get McLeish to sign, but it did not work out; he also had talks with Tottenham Hotspur. He won the Scottish player of the year in 1990,[5] after a season in which Aberdeen won both domestic cups. He was captain of Aberdeen after the retirement of Willie Miller.

Even after he had won his first Scotland cap, McLeish's father asked then Aberdeen boss Alex Ferguson to persuade him to continue training as an accountant.

Winners medals as Aberdeen player

International career

McLeish is Scotland's third most capped player, having gained 77 international caps between 1980 and 1993.[6] He was first capped for the Scotland U-21 team while still a reserve player at Aberdeen by his former club manager Ally MacLeod, eventually gaining six caps at that level. His full international debut came on 26 March 1980 against Portugal, manager Jock Stein playing him in midfield alongside Archie Gemmill and Graeme Souness.[4] He played in three World Cups with Scotland, in 1982, 1986 and 1990.[5] He is a member of both the Scottish Football Hall of Fame and the Scotland national football team roll of honour.[6] On the occasion of his 50th cap, against Luxembourg in 1987, McLeish was appointed team captain for the game.[4]

Management career

Motherwell

After his successful playing career he quickly went into football management with Motherwell in 1994, one year before he retired as a player.[5] His first season at Motherwell saw him take the Lanarkshire club to second in the Premier Division behind Walter Smith's Rangers.[5] However, he failed to build on this success and the next two season were spent in relegation battles. He resigned as manager to take over at Hibernian in 1998.[5]

Hibernian

McLeish took over a struggling Hibernian side, which was relegated from the Scottish Premier Division in 1998 despite a slight upturn in fortunes under McLeish. He then guided the Edinburgh team back to the Scottish Premier League at the first attempt by winning the First Division championship.[5]

Hibernian consolidated in their first season back in the top division, finishing mid-table and reaching the Scottish Cup semi-final.[5] In the 2000–01 season, Hibs started very strongly. Eventually they had to settle for third place and a Scottish Cup final appearance.[5] This performance attracted the attention of bigger clubs, including West Ham United and Rangers.

McLeish attracted top players such as Russell Latapy and former French international Franck Sauzée to Hibs. He also helped develop young striker Kenny Miller, who would later go on to play for Scotland.

During this period McLeish worked towards and was awarded a UEFA Pro Licence.[7][8]

Rangers

His work at Hibs was noticed, and he was linked with several moves to England, before he was appointed as Rangers manager in December 2001[9] after outgoing Rangers manager Dick Advocaat recommended McLeish to chairman David Murray.[10]

McLeish was an instant success at Rangers, winning both the Scottish Cup[11] and Scottish League Cup[12] in his first season, but the big prize of the league title was essentially lost before his arrival. His second season saw him go one better when he won the domestic treble, with the help of top players such as Ronald de Boer and Barry Ferguson.[13]

Rangers' worsening financial state saw many of his top players leave in the summer of 2003. Celtic won the league comfortably in season 2003–04, and Rangers failed to win any trophies.[14] McLeish was consequently put under pressure from fans after his poor signings and a record run of seven consecutive derby losses to Celtic.[15]

The high profile Bosman signings of Jean-Alain Boumsong and Dado Pršo in the close season of 2004–05 gave Rangers renewed hope of regaining the title from Celtic's grasp.[16] McLeish's team won the 2005 league title on a dramatic last day, an outcome that had looked highly unlikely after Rangers fell five points behind leaders Celtic with just four games remaining.[17]

After this unexpected success, McLeish and his Rangers team headed into the 2005–06 SPL campaign as favourites to retain the championship. McLeish made a number of signings, including Julien Rodriguez and Ian Murray, despite having little money to spend. After a reasonable start to the season, including a win over Celtic,[18] Rangers suffered a series of poor results between September and November. This period included a club record of 10 games without a win. However the tenth match of this run, a 1–1 draw with Inter Milan in the Champions League, took Rangers into the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time.[19]

Despite the poor domestic form, McLeish guided Rangers to the last 16 of the Champions League, where they were defeated on the away goals rule by Villarreal.[20] They became the first Scottish team to progress this far in the European Cup since 1993, and the first Scottish team to progress through a European group stage.[19] In December, chairman David Murray publicly announced his support for McLeish.[21] Rangers then went on a good run of results in December and January.

This run of good results came to a sudden halt when they were defeated 3–0 by Hibernian in the Scottish Cup,[22] prompting protests outside Ibrox against both McLeish and David Murray.[23] On 9 February 2006, it was announced by chairman David Murray that McLeish would be standing down as manager at the end of that season.[24]

It was later announced that he would be succeeded by former Olympique Lyonnais manager Paul Le Guen. Rangers beat Hearts 2–0 at Ibrox Stadium in his final match as manager.[25]

Scotland

McLeish said after leaving Rangers that he would not manage another Scottish club, because he felt that he had achieved everything in the Scottish game.[26] He was linked in the media with a number of managerial positions in England while he worked as a television pundit for the BBC and Setanta Sports.

McLeish took charge of the Scotland national team on 29 January 2007.[27] His assistants in the job were Roy Aitken and Andy Watson. McLeish's first game in charge of the national team was a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match, a 2–1 victory against Georgia on 24 March 2007 at Hampden Park.[28] His second game was an away fixture against Italy on 28 March 2007 which ended in a 2–0 defeat.[29]

McLeish's Scotland side then went on to defeat the Faroe Islands away in June,[30] Lithuania at home in September[31] before recording a historic victory in Paris four days later by defeating France 1–0 in the Parc des Princes.[32] James McFadden's 64th-minute strike from 30 yards was enough to earn Scotland the win and returned them to the top of Group B with three games to play. This result has been hailed as one of the Scotland national team's greatest victories.[33] Scotland's next success was at home to Ukraine, winning 3–1 at Hampden on 13 October. McLeish suffered his second defeat as manager, away in Georgia on 17 October. This result left him facing a decider against the World Champions, Italy. Scotland lost the game, McLeish's last, and Italy qualified for the finals.

Birmingham City

Premier League Birmingham City's approach to the SFA for permission to speak to McLeish about their managerial vacancy was refused,[34] but on his return on 27 November 2007 from attending the draw for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification in South Africa, he resigned his post as manager of Scotland[35] and was announced as Birmingham's new manager the following day. His assistants with Scotland, Roy Aitken and Andy Watson, were to accompany him. McLeish said he wanted to return to working with players on a daily basis and had "always harboured a desire" to manage in the Premier League.[36]

McLeish as Birmingham City manager

He enjoyed a positive managerial debut with Birmingham, winning 3–2 away to Tottenham Hotspur.[37] In the January 2008 transfer window, McLeish strengthened Birmingham's squad, buying David Murphy and James McFadden and signing Argentina under-20 international Mauro Zárate on loan, while generating funds by allowing fringe players to leave.[38] He was unable to save Birmingham from relegation, despite the team recording an impressive 4–1 victory over Blackburn Rovers on the last day of the season.[39]

McLeish changed the club's backroom staff and training procedures, appointed David Watson as goalkeeping coach, and overhauled the scouting setup, bringing in Paul Montgomery – the scout who recommended a relatively unknown Didier Drogba to West Ham United – to oversee player recruitment.[40]

On the final day of the 2008–09 season, McLeish secured Birmingham's return to the top flight of English football at the first attempt with a 2–1 away victory over Reading.[41] By mid-January 2010, he had guided them to a 12-game unbeaten run, a club record in the top division,[42] set a Premier League record by selecting the same starting eleven for nine consecutive games,[43] and been named Premier League Manager of the Month for December 2009, the first Birmingham manager to receive the award.[44] By the end of the season McLeish had led Birmingham to ninth place, their highest finish for more than 50 years.[45]

Following Birmingham's success during the 2009-10 season, McLeish agreed a new three-year deal with the club in September 2010.[46] In February 2011, McLeish led Birmingham to victory in the League Cup, defeating favourites Arsenal 2–1 in the final at Wembley in what he described as "relatively speaking, ... [his] greatest achievement".[47] However, a poor run of form followed the League Cup win, and Birmingham were relegated to the Championship on the last day of the 2010–11 season.[48][49] The directors confirmed that McLeish would keep his job, and would be expected to return the club to the Premier League at the first opportunity.[50] McLeish however opted to quit Birmingham City on 12 June 2011 by email.[51]

Aston Villa

On 17 June 2011, Aston Villa appointed McLeish as manager, just five days after leaving their local rivals Birmingham City.[52] There was much controversy surrounding his appointment as Birmingham City claimed McLeish was still under contract and filed a complaint against Aston Villa to the Premier League while Villa claimed McLeish was a free agent.[53] Aston Villa fans protested outside Villa Park and anti-McLeish graffiti had to be removed from outside Villa's training ground.[54] McLeish made out of favour Manchester City goalkeeper Shay Given his first signing,[55] and then recruited winger Charles N'Zogbia.[56] McLeish's first competitive game as Villa manager ended in a 0-0 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage.[57] He gained his first Premier League win as manager of Villa in a 3-1 win over Blackburn Rovers. Following victory over Blackburn, Villa drew their next 4 Premier league games until winning against Wigan 2-0.[58] Aston Villa finally ended their unbeaten start with a controversial 2-1 loss to rivals West Brom. McLeish's side secured a surprise win over London side Chelsea F.C just before signing L.A Galaxy striker Robbie Keane on loan.[59] Keane helped to secure Villa a crucial win against rivals Wolves in a 3-2 victory. While at Villa during the 2011/12 season McLeish has achieved the Worst home record in their club history following the recent 2-1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers, Aston Villa have won only four home games in the 2011/12 season with a possibility of it rising to five but it will not be enough with the worst on record previously being six. McLeish was sacked on the 13th of May after a disastrous season culminating in a loss on the last day of the season to Norwich.

Managerial honours

Club honours

Individual awards

Statistics

Managerial statistics

Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Motherwell Scotland 13 July 1994 10 February 1998 156 48 45 63 030.77
Hibernian Scotland 11 February 1998 11 December 2001 164 77 42 45 046.95
Rangers Scotland 13 December 2001 8 May 2006 235 155 44 36 065.96
Scotland Scotland 29 January 2007 27 November 2007 10 7 0 3 070.00
Birmingham City England 28 November 2007 12 June 2011 168 62 51 55 036.90
Aston Villa England 17 June 2011 present 41 9 17 15 021.95
Total 773 357 199 217 046.18
As of 6 May 2012[62]

References

  1. ^ "Alex McLeish – A Squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
  2. ^ "Manager Profile – Alex McLeish". 4thegame. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008.
  3. ^ "Alex McLeish honoured by University of Aberdeen". Birmingham Mail. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e f McLeish, Alex (1988). The Don Of An Era. John Donald Publishers. ISBN 0-85976-242-4. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Alex McLeish Factfile". BBC Sport. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  6. ^ a b "International Roll of Honour". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  7. ^ Grant, Michael (5 November 2000). "Andy caps his return to the big time" (reprint). Sunday Herald. FindArticles. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  8. ^ Winter, Henry (29 November 2007). "England could learn from Scottish system". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  9. ^ "Rangers unveil McLeish". BBC Sport. 11 February 2001. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  10. ^ Broadfoot, Darryl (9 October 2007). "Advocaat's vested interest in the improbable dream". The Herald. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  11. ^ "Rangers win Old Firm final". BBC Sport. 4 May 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  12. ^ "Rangers lift CIS Cup". BBC Sport. 17 March 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  13. ^ "Rangers complete Treble". BBC Sport. 31 May 2003. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  14. ^ "Past Managers – Alex McLeish". Rangers F.C. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  15. ^ "Bosses talk up Old Firm meeting". BBC Sport. 9 November 2004. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  16. ^ Wright, Angus (10 May 2004). "Prso capture sees McLeish celebrate". The Scotsman. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  17. ^ "Rangers in dramatic title triumph". BBC Sport. 22 May 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  18. ^ "Rangers 3–1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 20 October 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  19. ^ a b "Rangers 1–1 Inter Milan". BBC Sport. 6 December 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  20. ^ "Villarreal 1–1 Rangers (agg 3–3)". BBC Sport. 7 March 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  21. ^ "McLeish receives Murray's backing". BBC Sport. 8 February 2005. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  22. ^ "Rangers 0–3 Hibernian". BBC Sport. 4 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  23. ^ "Fans expect more Ibrox protests". BBC Sport. 6 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  24. ^ "McLeish to leave Rangers in May". BBC Sport. 9 February 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  25. ^ "Rangers 2–0 Hearts". BBC Sport. 7 May 2006. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  26. ^ Gibbons, Glenn (11 February 2006). "'I'm a Rangers man – I couldn't manage another Scottish club'". The Scotsman. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  27. ^ "McLeish unveiled as Scotland boss". BBC Sport. 29 January 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  28. ^ Taylor, Julian (24 March 2007). "Scotland 2–1 Georgia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  29. ^ Moffat, Colin (28 March 2007). "Italy 2–0 Scotland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  30. ^ Taylor, Julian (6 June 2007). "Faroe Islands 0–2 Scotland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  31. ^ Moffat, Colin (8 September 2007). "Scotland 3–1 Lithuania". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  32. ^ McGuigan, Thomas (12 September 2007). "France 0–1 Scotland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  33. ^ "McLeish proud of superb Scotland". BBC Sport. 13 September 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  34. ^ "SFA reject official approach for McLeish". The Scotsman. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  35. ^ "McLeish leaves Scotland for Blues". BBC Sport. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2007.
  36. ^ "Birmingham unveil McLeish as boss". BBC Sport. 28 November 2007. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
  37. ^ Soni, Paresh (2 December 2007). "Tottenham 2–3 Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  38. ^ Tattum, Colin (23 January 2008). "Alex McLeish back to square one in defender hunt". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 27 January 2008.
  39. ^ McKenzie, Andrew (11 May 2008). "Birmingham 4–1 Blackburn". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
  40. ^ Tattum, Colin (13 February 2008). "McLeish orders reform of Birmingham City scouting". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 8 April 2009.
  41. ^ Fletcher, Paul (3 May 2009). "Birmingham clinch top-flight spot". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  42. ^ "McLeish proud of Blues". Sky Sports. 9 January 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  43. ^ Tyler, Martin (12 January 2010). "The cold rush". Sky Sports. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  44. ^ a b "McLeish named Barclays Manager of the Month". Premier League. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  45. ^ Roopanarine, Les (9 May 2010). "Bolton 2–1 Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  46. ^ "Big Eck signs new deal". Birmingham City F.C. 18 September 2009. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  47. ^ Hytner, David (27 February 2011). "Birmingham City win is 'my greatest achievement', says Alex McLeish". guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  48. ^ Dawkes, Phil (22 May 2011). "Tottenham 2–1 Birmingham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  49. ^ "Pavlyuchenko relegates Birmingham". ESPN Soccernet. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  50. ^ Curtis, John (23 May 2011). "Birmingham keep faith with Alex McLeish". The Independent. Press Association. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  51. ^ "Alex McLeish resigns as Birmingham manager". BBC Sport. 12 June 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
  52. ^ "Villa appoint McLeish". Sky Sports. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
  53. ^ "Birmingham seek Alex McLeish compensation from Aston Villa". BBC. 17 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  54. ^ "Aston Villa fans protest against Alex McLeish". BBC. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
  55. ^ "Given signs Villa deal". Sky Sports. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  56. ^ "Aston Villa sign Charles N'Zogbia from Wigan Athletic". BBC. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  57. ^ "Fulham 0-0 Aston Villa". BBC. 13 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  58. ^ BBC Sport - Aston Villa 2-0 Wigan
  59. ^ BBC Sport - Robbie Keane signs for Aston Villa on loan from Los Angeles Galaxy
  60. ^ "Hall of Fame Dinner 2005". Scottish Football Museum Hall of Fame. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
  61. ^ "Statistics – Roll of honour since 2000". Scottish Premier League. Retrieved 13 March 2010.
  62. ^ "Alex McLeish's managerial career". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by Aberdeen FC captain
1990–1994 		Succeeded by

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