4121: Scotland; Is Big Eck The Righ
by : Stephen Orford
Manchester United: The two players who have constantly been linked with Manchester United this month are Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Bale – yet the Reds are finding it difficult to land either. But Heinze, Richardson and Rossi are three names with a question mark over their futures.
Middlesbrough: Boro finally made an impact in the market with the arrival of South Korean international striker Lee Dong-gook from the Pohang Steelers; and old sweats Ehiogu and Parlour were moved off the wage bill.
Newcastle United: Reports on Monday suggested Curtis Davies of West Brom remained a strong target and that a bid of £9m + Titus Bramble (or £8m without him according to a joke doing the rounds that afternoon) was on its way to the Hawthorns.
Oguchi Onyewu to Newcastle United
Portsmouth: Harry Redknapp’s men put in a spirited display at Old Trafford at the weekend but their cup exit may come as a blessing as they push for a place in Europe. And there’s no let up in players being linked with a move to Fratton Park with midfielders and attackers high on the agenda.
Reading: Reading have made further effort to sign one of the players on their January list, central defender Alan Bennett from Cork; but do bag a young Norwegian goalkeeper. Oh Mikki you're so fine, you're so ... sheesh.
Mark Little to Reading
Clinton Morrison to Reading
Michael Duberry
Sheffield United: The Blades have completed the signing of Egypt international Ahmed Fathi and have also taken Hungarian youngster Botond Birtalan on trial. A last minute bid for Stephen Warnock failed.
Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs are reknowned for leaving it late in the transfer window, but most of the business seems to be done with Ricardo Rocha onboard. Now for that Bale character.
Peter Crouch to Tottenham
Anthony Gardner to Bolton
Watford: With Ashley Young finally sealing a near £10m move to Aston Villa during the week, attention turned to who Adrian Boothroyd would spend the proceeds on in a last-gasp bid to keep Watford in the Premiership. Ray Parlour?
West Ham United: West Ham continue to be busily fighting the drop, acquiring Lucas Neill and Kepa Blanco - amidst much other interest. Matthew Upson might be next.
Wigan Athletic: http://www.squarefootball.net/article/inbrief.asp?iid=1999. Bids for Papa Boupa Diop and Chelsea's Geremi hang in the balance.
Antony Melvin
29 January 2007The Scottish Football Association moved to fill it’s most important vacancy today (January 29), appointing Alex McLeish as manager of the Scotland national team.
Walter Smith rocked the SFA just over two weeks ago by deciding to quit the post to take over at Rangers, so the haste with which a successor has been found will doubtless be welcomed. Yet opinion is still somewhat split about whether the former Aberdeen defender is the right man to lead Scotland in the remainder of their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and beyond.
He inherits a side sitting top of Euro 2008 Qualifying Group B, unbeaten in its first four outings. That run included a shock 1-0 victory over 2006 World Cup finalists France, when Gary Caldwell’s goal was met with a fair degree of national delirium. Yet with world champions Italy also lurking in a tough looking section aswell as an improving Ukraine, McLeish was wise to play down Scotland’s chances of reaching their first major international tournament since France ’98.
The Scots have yet to face Italy either home or away, and still have the small matter of a visit to Paris on the agenda in September. With matches against Georgia and Lithuania also on the fixture list before then, McLeish needs to settle in quickly to his new role. The wave of optimism surrounding Scottish football at the moment could soon evaporate should the side fall out of contention for Austria and Switzerland in the coming months.
McLeish‘s managerial record offers much encouragement. In a four-year spell with Rangers he picked up seven major trophies and led the club to the knockout stages of the Champions League for the first time. That is a record which compares with the achievements of the Sainted Martin O’Neill at Celtic, yet there are still those who view McLeish as merely a lucky manager. Big Eck won two SPL titles with last-gasp heroics on the final day, and his Ibrox reign was to end in ignominy. Increasing financial problems had led to a domestic downturn by the 2005/06 season, with a 3-0 Scottish Cup drubbing by Hibernian proving something of a nadir.
Yet such nay saying ignores the good work done by the 48-year-old at both Motherwell and Hibernian. He guided the former to its highest ever league position of second, before steering Hibs back to the top flight at the first time of asking in 1998. All of which persuaded the Rangers hierarchy to take a chance on the man capped 77 times by his country. It is arguable that with better financial conditions McLeish could have gone on to achieve much more in Glasgow. The problems encountered by Paul Le Guen in succeeding McLeish are testament to how difficult the Rangers job has become.
Those problems sparked a chain of events which have given McLeish the opportunity to build on the foundations laid by Smith. March fixtures against Georgia and Italy are made all the more difficult by injuries to the likes of Caldwell and James McFadden, aswell as the uncertainty surrounding the immediate international future of Garry O’Connor. Yet with men like Darren Fletcher, Kenny Miller and Kris Boyd gaining more European experience the Scottish squad now looks to have a little more depth than in previous years.
McLeish’s deal runs until 2010, and sees former Celtic midfielder Roy Aitken appointed to the backroom staff along with Andy Watson. Watson was an assistant to McLeish at Motherwell, Hibernian and Rangers, and offers a familiarity that will be vital to the new manager. Barring any major disasters the trio should be in place for the qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and reaching that tournament has to be his long-term aim.
If McLeish can guide his troops to Austria and Switzerland in the meantime he will be instantly elevated into the top bracket of Scotland managers, and there will be a clamour for him to extend his stay yet further.
By Stephen Orford
29 January 2007
