Ex-Toon Defender Gets Birmingham Job!

Last updated : 28 November 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor

The former Rangers and Hibs boss quit his role as manager of the Scottish national team on Tuesday and less than 24 hours later was unveiled at St Andrews.

McLeish, who has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract, takes over from Steve Bruce who left the club earlier this month and is now at Wigan.

The new role will be McLeish's first in the Premier League and his aim will be to steer the Blues clear of relegation trouble. They currently sit just one point above the drop zone.

Coach Roy Aitken, who was part of McLeish's backroom team at Scotland, has also made the move to St Andrews, as has Andy Watson, another member of the Scottish set-up.

Aitken, as I'm sure you will remember, played for us between 1990/91, making 64 appearances, scoring one goal (in the 4-1 win over Barnsley).

A Glasgow Celtic institution, but he never made his mark on Tyneside.

Was captain of the play-off side that suffered defeat at the hands of the Mackems, and his poor performance meant he took most of the stick for it.

Like Ian Rush, Stuart Pearce, John Barnes, Kenny Sansom, and so many others we signed at the back end of their career ... we never saw the best of him.

His strength was as a midfield general, but he struggled with the pace in the English game (even though it was only the Second Division) and manager Jim Smith played him mostly in defence.