ALEX McLeish believes he can gain an invaluable insight into the teams his Scotland side will face during Euro 2020 qualifying next year working as a pundit for Qatari-based beIN Sports at Russia 2018 in the coming weeks.
McLeish was charged with ending a wait to reach the finals of a major tournament that stretches way back to France ’98 when he was put in charge of the national team for a second time back in February.
And the former Motherwell, Hibernian, Rangers, Birmingham City and Aston Villa manager is positive that analysing games at the World Cup for beIN, formerly Al Jazeera, will help when the national team's Euro 2020 campaign gets underway in March.
“I will be working for beIN Sports for the World Cup doing studio work for them over in Qatar,” he said. “It is a tournament I need to be on top of in my position as Scotland manager and for me this should be the ideal way to do it.
“You are talking about watching the best players in the world but also the systems they are used in and how teams cope against different tactics they come up against. These could be the same sides we find ourselves up against in the Euro 2020 qualifiers so it should be a very valuable exercise.
“It means I have a busy summer all in all but that is fine. It comes with the territory and is a part of the job and one I am relishing.”
McLeish admitted he will be interested to see how successful the video assistant referee (VAR) system is when it is used at the World Cup for the first time this summer. New regulations came in to place on Friday which give match officials the power to issue retrospective red cards for off the ball incidents at any time during the game.
“Those are new changes to me so it will be interesting to see the impact they have on the tournament,” said McLeish. “Sendings off are controversial enough just now as it is, but the idea is to get these massive moments in the game right. It is part of the game now and you have to get on with it. It’s going to be part of football’s future.”
The 59-year-old is also adamant the controversial end-of-season tour of Peru and Mexico that he inherited when he was appointed will prove invaluable when Scotland return to competitive action in the Nations league against Albania and Israel in September.
“A lot of people thought the trip to Peru and Mexico was going to be a disaster, but I think it has been beneficial,” he said. “We have had the chance to introduce a lot of new boys into the group and by and large they have acquitted themselves well which bodes well for the future.
“You see the enthusiasm with which they took their opportunity and their enjoyment at playing in front of the big crowd in Peru. You can’t buy that kind of experience.
“And we have the guys who have been back at home, playing in important matches like Andy Robertson at Liverpool and the Fulham lads Tom Cairney and Kevin Macdonald, to come back to us. Plus all the ones who have rested up so it should be a strong group.”
Elsewhere, McLeish has admitted he was delighted to see Scot Gemmill field 16-year-old Billy Gilmour of Chelsea and Chris Hamilton of Hearts in the Scotland Under-21 side that defeated France 1-0 in the Toulon Tournament last week.
“I thought it was tremendous to see the two 16 year old boys involved,” he said. “Scot Gemmill has said they both stood up to the challenge and I would completely agree.
“The challenge now is to ensure we continue to develop them, and all the other talented kids we have coming up, in a way that gets them through to the A squad one day.
“In some cases that might take a while longer, but if so it is OK, I was a late developer myself. We are a small country and we can’t afford to be wasting any of our resources. But when they can show they are ready and good enough, it is all there for them.”
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