AEK factor
motivates Eck
Talk of Scotland job way too premature
by John Campbell
ALEX McLEISH THIS AFTERNOON
emphasised that whilst he is more than a litttle flattered at being linked with the yet to
be vacated job as Coach of the National side his immediate ambitions lie in developing
Hibs into a side which can appear and perform regularly on the European stage.
This must be music to the ears of any Hibs
fan worried he might be tempted away from Easter Road by the lure of the Scotland job but
make no mistake, McLeish is very ambituious and could be tempted at some future date.
"You should never say never in
football;" he told Hibs.net "Although the timing isn't right at the moment because I
want to do well at Club level and have a lot of ambitions for Hibs. Maybe if I'm
still around in the game in 5 or 10 years and I'm still involved at a decent level, I
could be tempted but the timing is not right at the moment."
Perfectly happy where he is, thank you!
Recognising that football Management is a
fickle occupation, McLeish acknowledged that Managing Scotland is not a burning ambition
currently but he did not, however, discount involvement completely, hinting that if
Scotland adopted the kind of approach which the English FA have followed, in appointing an
experienced Coach and surrounding him with ambitious young Club Coaches, then he might
have to think carefully if he were to be invited to participate. "If, for example, someone like Sir Alex Ferguson were to be
appointed although I stress I have no idea whether such a move forms part of Sir Alex's
agenda, and I were to be asked to get involved whilst still Managing Hibs then truthfully
I don't know what I would do. I'd certainly have to give it long and hard
consideration."
McLeish acknowledges that the top job is
not for him at this time but is quick to emphasise that his view is based not on any lack
of ambition or doubts as to confidence in his own ability as a Coach. He knows he
still has much to offer as a Club Manager and wants to take Hibs on to higher levels.
In a sense the Scotland job might be considered by Eck as the right job but at the
wrong time. "I want to make clear that I
say no, not because of any lack of ambition. It's just not right for me at the
moment"
Turning the focus onto tomorrow's tie at Motherwell, McLeish is
awaiting the return from international duty of Ulises De La Cruz, whose flight was delayed
by a couple of hours as he flew back from having helped his side gain a very creditable
point away to Colombia. "I want to see
how he is after travelling. I understand he had a fine game for his Country but I
wan't to chat with him and see how he is. I am desperate to get him into the team
but the conditions have to be right and although I got the chance to work with him for a
few days between the Celtic
game and his flying out to South America, I'd like to have more time with him on the
training pitch."
Remember me?
Inevitably, mention was made of Thursday's
tie with AEK in Athens but McLeish was quick to steer thoughts back to the important game
with Motherwell. "I've stressed to the
players at training this morning that the reason we're playing in the UEFA Cup in Athens
on Thursday is because we did so well domestically last season. I want Hibs to
feature regularly on the European stage and so it is vital that we perform well in the
League, starting tomorrow at Motherwell. Right now, I consider the game at Fir Park
to be of more importance to Hibernian than the Athens game"
AEK play a final friendly, against
Paniones, tomorrow and Coach Andy Watson will travel to see them. "This will be our third look at them and I anticipate the
team they put out will be pretty much the team they want to put out on Thursday.
Their season hasn't started yet so their preparation has been difficult. The Greek
National side got hammered the other night, with three players from AEK on show but I
don't read to much into that."
The only injury worry currently is Freddy
Arpinon whom McLeish described as being almost ready to join the squad. Otherwise
its all systems go for Hibs who will be hoping for a morale boosting performance before
setting out for Athens on Wednesday morning. |
