McLeish installed as the bookies
favourite
More unwelcome speculation on
Hibs boss
(Stuart Crowther)IT
IS NOT OFTEN, or so they say, that the bookmakers call it wrong - but
Hibs fans wakening up this morning to the inevitable news that Alex
McLeish is the turf-accountants favoured choice to take over from Craig
Brown will despair that yet more unwelcome eyes are being cast in the
direction of Easter Road.
McLeish is being quoted
as 9/2 favourite with his own mentor Alex Ferguson coming into the betting
at 6/1, but all of this of course is meaningless as Brown himself is not
in any mood to quit just yet and his masters at the SFA appear even less
inclined to give him an early push through the door. The SFA
Committee who have that power, which includes Hibs managing director Rod
Petrie, did meet yesterday but at least as far as official statements are
concerned the matter of Craig Brown's future was not even discussed.
This the tabloid press are declaring as a national disgrace, with one even
insisting that Scottish fans need not wait for Petrie to take a lead in
calling for the head of national coach Brown, hardly surprising given that
Petrie will know better than most the value of Alex McLeish to Hibernian!
Capped 77 times for his
country, McLeish does have all the credentials you would expect of a
national coach, respected throughout the game both at home and overseas
and having the charismatic style that would go a long way to reuniting the
football nation. And there can be no doubt that the Hibs boss has
his own ideas on what is needed to turn Scotland around at national level,
although ever the realist he revealed in recent comments that he is also
aware of just how difficult a job it would be.
"We do not have a massive choice when it comes to Scotland but we
still have a log of good young players," he
commented, adding: "But the problem we have and will always
have is getting the type of players who will make a difference, people
like Prosinecki and Boban."
Petrie in no hurry to talk himself out of a manager! (sns)
McLeish has managed
somehow to bring to Easter Road players who can make a difference, taking
chances on the likes of Franck Sauzee, Russell Latapy and Ulrik Laursen,
and more recently Ulises de la Cruz. Hibs fans will hope that their
boss might yet feel he has more to offer the club game at this point in
his career, with possibly Ferguson being a better choice to fill an
immediate gap before handing on to McLeish at a later date - much later!
Ulises de la Cruz
meanwhile will return to Edinburgh today after turning in a
man-of-the-match performance in Ecuador's 0-0 draw on Wednesday.
Barring any injuries he is expected to start for Hibs tomorrow against Motherwell
- Hibs.net will feature a preview of that game this evening
with comments from manager Alex McLeish. And Raith youngster Kevin
Nicol continues to train at Easter Road today, with McLeish making it
clear last night that no signing of the 19-year-old midfielder was
imminent. He said: "We've taken him for
a week just to train with us. We are not close to a deal, we just wanted
to have a look at close quarters. He's still young, eligible for
the Under-18 team, but certainly plays more maturely than that."
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