Big Eck: Is he given enough credit?

[Vince White]

They may not score many goals, but Birmingham have had a great season. McLeish is due a lot of credit for that. It's a bit similar to the job he did at Hibs, taking over when they were already entrenched in a relegation battle but getting them back up the following season and making them a solid top flight side again.

Looking at his managerial career overall, I think his time at the Huns was perhaps under-appreciated as he was up against Martin O'Neill. Yet, IIRC he actually ended up winning more trophies than Celtic. With Scotland I thought he made them as attractive to watch as they had been for many years and certainly much more easy on the eye than they are now. I did wonder if he would be able to cut it down south, but next to Davie Moyes I think he's now put himself in the frame as a possible successor to Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.

[truehibernian]

McLeish's Hibs side was superb to watch and had everything we moan about currently that the team at present lacks. It had grit and presence (Laursen, Jack, Mixu, O'Neil), trickery and skill (Latapy, Hartley :bitchy:, Lovell), and genuine leaders all over the pitch, with Le God having just that bit of everything others in the SPL lacked. Good keeper as well, and just good, soild, football. Youth was coming through too in Miller and Murray. A combo of that team and Mowbray's teenage kicks team......we live in hope !

[Hibbyradge]

Yep, he's done fantastically well.

My mate pointed out that he didn't spend much either, although funds were available.

That basically says to the players, "I think you're good enough. Prove me right and you'll keep playing. Prove me wrong and I can replace you."

Good management.

[Stevie Reid]

As much as both are much maligned characters with many of the Hibs support these days, Alex McLeish and Alex Miller manged Hibs through the two most challenging passages of our recent history, and we may not be in the healthy position that we are now had we had different stewardship at these times.

I am pleased to see McLeish doing well, I will always be grateful for the job that he did with us, and I very much hope he continues to be a successful manager in the Premiership.

[weonlywon6-2]

As much as both are much maligned characters with many of the Hibs support these days, Alex McLeish and Alex Miller manged Hibs through the two most challenging passages of our recent history, and we may not be in the healthy position that we are now had we had different stewardship at these times.

I am pleased to see McLeish doing well, I will always be grateful for the job that he did with us, and I very much hope he continues to be a successful manager in the Premiership.

under mcleish i thought we were magic,so much buzz amongst the fans,

and we beat some jakey team 6-2 as well !!!

can see mcleish going to liverpool etc in the next few years.

also, david moyes is doing a great job

only wish the best for them

:thumbsup:

[Vince White]

under mcleish i thought we were magic,so much buzz amongst the fans,

and we beat some jakey team 6-2 as well !!!

can see mcleish going to liverpool etc in the next few years.

also, david moyes is doing a great job

only wish the best for them

:thumbsup:

Owen Coyle's been doing not too badly either. Scotland always seems to produce managers who do well down south (with the exception of ex-Hearts managers like Jefferies and Levein at Bradford and Leicester). McInnes is looking like he could be the next one, especially if he can get St Johnstone into the top six.

[Reaper]

As much as both are much maligned characters with many of the Hibs support these days, Alex McLeish and Alex Miller manged Hibs through the two most challenging passages of our recent history, and we may not be in the healthy position that we are now had we had different stewardship at these times.

I am pleased to see McLeish doing well, I will always be grateful for the job that he did with us, and I very much hope he continues to be a successful manager in the Premiership.

:thumbsup:Me too, especially when he left Motherwell at a time when deep down we all knew we were going down. Hated that he left for the Huns though.

[noseyhibby]

I rate the Mcleish era above that of the Mowbray era. Under Mcleish we were both physical and entertaining -we had a great balance. Mowbrays teams always had that soft underbelly, and there were too many capitulations 0-4 to the Jambos and a series of ignonimous defeats in Inverness contrasting with some incredible results at Ibrox. McLeish I rate second to Turnbull in my lifetime, with Mowbray 3rd. I look forward to big Yogi gatecrashing my top 3 -time will tell.

[Booked4Being-Ugly]

I rate the Mcleish era above that of the Mowbray era. Under Mcleish we were both physical and entertaining -we had a great balance. Mowbrays teams always had that soft underbelly, and there were too many capitulations 0-4 to the Jambos and a series of ignonimous defeats in Inverness contrasting with some incredible results at Ibrox. McLeish I rate second to Turnbull in my lifetime, with Mowbray 3rd. I look forward to big Yogi gatecrashing my top 3 -time will tell.Mcleish would have had a far superior budget to Mowbray though. We had a fairly lucrative Sky deal then as well, which helped us fund Sauzee, Latapy, Luna, Zitteli etc, etc, etc!

Mowbray would probably be lucky to have got 1/4 the budget of Mcleish!

[Onceinawhile]

Mcleish would have had a far superior budget to Mowbray though. We had a fairly lucrative Sky deal then as well, which helped us fund Sauzee, Latapy, Luna, Zitteli etc, etc, etc!

Mowbray would probably be lucky to have got 1/4 the budget of Mcleish!

exactly, and although Mowbray brought in some poor players he didn't spend the best part of 500,000 on them.

It should also be pointed out that under Mcleish we barely won a game after the january and were probably on a worse run than we are now...

[Stevie Reid]

exactly, and although Mowbray brought in some poor players he didn't spend the best part of 500,000 on them.

It should also be pointed out that under Mcleish we barely won a game after the january and were probably on a worse run than we are now...

I dunno if it was as bad but there are parallels as we did hardly win a game after Christmas and the old main stand was taken down leading to a bizarre atmosphere.

Big difference was that we picked up so many points becuase were so good before Xmas the 2000-01 season that we could afford the slump that we had then.

[Kaiser1962]

Mcleish would have had a far superior budget to Mowbray though. We had a fairly lucrative Sky deal then as well, which helped us fund Sauzee, Latapy, Luna, Zitteli etc, etc, etc!

Mowbray would probably be lucky to have got 1/4 the budget of Mcleish!

McLeish also had a first team squad of around 85 players at one point and left us near £20m in debt (not all down to him but he rattled up quite a bit of it)
I am quite pleased he is doing OK but have never really got over that speech on the pitch and he then jumped ship to the huns in the worst kept secret ever. Yes, even worse than Ian Murrays move.

[Vince White]

exactly, and although Mowbray brought in some poor players he didn't spend the best part of 500,000 on them.

It should also be pointed out that under Mcleish we barely won a game after the january and were probably on a worse run than we are now...

The poor league form post-January was masked to a large extent by the fact we won our way through to the Scottish Cup final. And we still did enough in the league to hold on to third place.

[Vince White]

McLeish also had a first team squad of around 85 players at one point and left us near £20m in debt (not all down to him but he rattled up quite a bit of it)
I am quite pleased he is doing OK but have never really got over that speech on the pitch and he then jumped ship to the huns in the worst kept secret ever. Yes, even worse than Ian Murrays move.

The speech took place the day we lifted the First Division trophy, two and a half years before he left for Ibrox! Hardly what I would have called jumping ship. In the interim he did a great job. As you say, the move to Rangers was well known before it happened and I'll accept that did have an effect on our form in the weeks leading up to it.

As for the likes of Ian Murray, I never really got the whole 'judas' thing. The way I saw it was he knew that signing a pre-contract with Rangers was going to be unpopular so tried to keep it quiet as he wanted to focus on getting Hibs into Europe. The following year Caldwell was open about the fact he was signing for Celtic and he got even more abuse than Murray! Like it or not, our players will continue to move west if the offer's there. Doesn't make guys like Ian Murray any less of a Hibby IMHO.

[Kaiser1962]

The speech took place the day we lifted the First Division trophy, two and a half years before he left for Ibrox! Hardly what I would have called jumping ship. In the interim he did a great job. As you say, the move to Rangers was well known before it happened and I'll accept that did have an effect on our form in the weeks leading up to it.

As for the likes of Ian Murray, I never really got the whole 'judas' thing. The way I saw it was he knew that signing a pre-contract with Rangers was going to be unpopular so tried to keep it quiet as he wanted to focus on getting Hibs into Europe. The following year Caldwell was open about the fact he was signing for Celtic and he got even more abuse than Murray! Like it or not, our players will continue to move west if the offer's there. Doesn't make guys like Ian Murray any less of a Hibby IMHO.

Was not slagging anyone VW, least of all IM. Just stating what was being reported at the time and since. Course these guys are going to continue to move some just leave a bad taste. Thinking Thomson (also a hibby btw) not Murray. We now know, thanks to Advocaat's big mouth,the Rangers deal was lined up for the best part of a year before McLeish went and while I have no truck with why players, or managers, do it some conduct themselves with a bit more class than others. A quick opinion on the Thomson/Brown saga I would say that I was glad it was Petrie/Farmer and not Duff/Gray. McKay would have wiped the floor with Duff and Gray but when he left a meeting with Petrie and Farmer I would not be surprised if not only had he gained about 10% of what he went in for he would probably have purchased a full set of Good Years (including the spare), full set of shocks and a tracking and balance (all on HP) to boot.

[hibees59]

I think eck's doing a great job with Birmingham, and will move on to a bigger club in the next couple of years. He did a good job for us and we played some great football while he was here and for that we should all be grateful. One thing that really annoys me about him was when he dropped Latapy for the Scottish Cup final. OK, Latapy broke club rules, but cellic were there for the taking and I thought that eck should've played the wee magician.

[Vince White]

I think eck's doing a great job with Birmingham, and will move on to a bigger club in the next couple of years. He did a good job for us and we played some great football while he was here and for that we should all be grateful. One thing that really annoys me about him was when he dropped Latapy for the Scottish Cup final. OK, Latapy broke club rules, but cellic were there for the taking and I thought that eck should've played the wee magician.

Hardly. They were going for last leg of the treble and had hammered us 5-2 at ER a couple of weeks previously. We never stood a chance in that game with or without Latapy.