The former midfielder has been asked to join George Burley’s backroom team -- as exclusively revealed in yesterday’s Herald Sport -- following the departure of Steven Pressley from the set-up.
McAllister’s Scotland playing career ended on a sour note: he retired from international duty in 1999 having been booed by large sections of the crowd during a 2-1 defeat by the Czech Republic in a European Championship qualifier at Celtic Park. Brown is adamant, however, that his former captain, who was sacked as manager of Leeds United in December of last year, would be “totally committed” to Scotland.
“I remember substituting Gary against the Czech Republic and he was booed off by some of the fans,” Brown recalled. “It was totally unfair on him; he was always the kind of player who tried to make the difficult pass or the telling pass in a game and if that goes wrong it’s easy for supporters to be critical. Gary would never just go for the safe option if he could try one that would hurt the opposition.
“Unfortunately, he missed the World Cup for us in 1998 because of an injury, but he scored the penalty against Belarus that got us there after having missed one at Wembley in 1996. I thought that showed great strength of character and I think there’s no-one better suited to joining the group at Scotland.
“He has presence, he has respect and he’s totally committed to Scotland. I don’t have personal knowledge of his coaching abilities, but he’s very well regarded as a person and as a manager. I think he did well as a manager when he was Coventry City, and at Leeds, too, he took them to the play-offs in League One the season before last. He is an excellent acquisition for George.”
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