Scotland fight to retain McLeish

The Scottish Football Association is battling to hold on to Alex McLeish, with Birmingham strongly linked with a move for the national manager.

"We have had an approach for our manager," chief executive Gordon Smith told the Scottish Sun.

"We don't want to discuss it all, so the club involved has been advised they cannot have permission to speak to Alex at the moment.

"We must make it clear we want to retain Alex as manager of Scotland."

Birmingham have so far declined to comment on widespread reports that they are anxious to discuss their managerial vacancy with McLeish.

The English Premier League club are looking for a replacement for Steve Bruce, who has quit the club to join rivals Wigan.

But a spokesperson for Birmingham told BBC Sport that the club would not comment on "speculation".

McLeish, 48, has not ruled out a return to club management in the future.

The former Rangers, Hibernian and Motherwell manager narrowly missed out on qualification for the Euro 2008 finals.

His Scotland side received plaudits after defeating World Cup finalists France home and away in their qualifying group.

McLeish's contract with Scotland has three years to run, and he would not guarantee he would still be in charge for the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign.

"It's a long time away," he told BBC Sport. "You can never tell in football.

"It's something that is always out of your control. I am Scotland manager until something else happens."

The SFA are lining up an improved contract for McLeish and will demand substantial compensation should he be lured away.

Source: BBC Sport