He brought in one of Scotland's most promising young managers into what was, for him, a win/win situation. McLeish was put in as a patsy, brought in to manage the debt. Trophy wise if he was a success on a shoestring budget then happy days, if not then he was, by virtue of having hee haw to spend, going to be a success in reducing the outgoings by a considerable margin. McLeish himself would have been delighted with the budget he was given, as compared to his previous clubs it was a veritable treasure chest.
McLeish paid the price, as he had to, ultimately for the expectations of the support. He may have underestimated our aspirations for the club - he may not. What is clear though is he failed to deliver our expectations. I am not by any stretch of the imaginations saying McLeish was a failure, not by a long way considering his managerial experience. Indeed at any other club, he would have been hailed a hero with the success levels he delivered. Even, it would seem, our erstwhile neighbours, judging by the adulation conferred upon St Martin for achieving less than Eck in a longer period of time.
So are we to blame then for Eck being sacked? No, not at all - there is nothing wrong with having ambition for your club, indeed it is expected if you put your hand in your pocket to finance it.
The new manager (whoever he may be) may well get the best out of the current players, as has been predicted by many with seeming glee at McLeish's demise, but will that be because of his superior tactical nous? Or will it just be because the players will be looking to impress the new boss in the hope that we will continue to cough up for their over inflated salaries?
For all we know, perhaps McLeish was aware of, and accepted his role of patsy readily, as he could see there would be no possibility of managing the Rangers in the near future, and saw his best chance at the big time as being when we were on our knees financially.
Maybe he didn't, I guess we will never know. But for what its worth - I reckon Strachan has been brought in to fulfil the exact same role across the city for the next few years.
Hands up who would be happy if he left at the end of HIS tenure as patsy with the same amount of silverware as our departing "failure" ??
Didn't think so.
TIGER