FOLLOWING Alex McLeish’s dismissal from the Scotland manager’s post, the search for new national team manager has begun. The Scottish FA have refused to rule out appointing a foreign manager to the top job, with under-21s boss Scot Gemmill and Kilmarnock’s Steve Clarke the bookies’ favourites to take over.

We’ve taken a look back at McLeish’s tenure in charge of the national side and picked out five reasons why it all went wrong for the 60-year-old.

And our very own Matthew Lindsay reckons that McLeish leaves a promising legacy that supporters should be grateful for, after McLeish secured a Euro 2020 play-off spot and blooded a fresh generation of young Scottish players.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has insisted that the Scotland manager’s job is not a poisoned chalice - but refused to be discuss his name being linked with the role. “I don't really want to be commenting on it,” McInnes said. “We've got our work to do here at Aberdeen to finish off the season.”

Former Rangers assistant manager Jimmy Nicholl believes that Rangers have progressed since Steven Gerrard was appointed manager and admitted that the role will be a learning curve for Gerrard. Nicholl said: “There is progress all right, with things going on behind the scenes. That’s what I hope Steven does in the summer.... address whatever you think is wrong or needed and get the backing from the board.”

Hearts manager Craig Levein has dismissed speculation that John Souttar could be tempted to move to Ibrox, branding the reports as the ‘usual crap’. Levein said: “It’s just the usual crap; we are coming up to a game against Rangers and there is speculation about one of our players.”

And Levein has revealed that injured talisman Steven Naismith still played a big role in Hearts reaching the Scottish Cup final - despite the fact he wasn’t on the pitch. “Naisy was great [in the semi-final],” said Levein. “He came and stayed overnight in the hotel and I saw him sitting and speaking to seven or eight different players over the course of the evening and the next morning.”

Hearts have revealed that their supporters and Celtic’s will receive a 50/50 split of tickets for next month’s Cup final. A statement from the club read: “With both clubs equally sharing the available ticket allocation from the SFA, 20,220 tickets will be available to Hearts supporters.”

One man who won’t play any part in the final is Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery for the multiple facial fractures he suffered in Sunday’s semi-final win over Aberdeen. Celtic manager Neil Lennon said: “We just have to look after him as best as we can and get him back for the start of next season, and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

Celtic’s future in European football has been boosted by the possibility that they could be given an automatic berth in the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition under new proposals that would grant wild card entries for clubs with ‘great historical importance to football’. Jacco Swart, director of the Association of European Professional Football Leagues, revealed: “We have a meeting with the big clubs at the beginning of May to discuss these proposals.”

And Celtic’s Irish winger Jonny Hayes has revealed that a message of support from his four-year-old son helped to spur him on during Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final. “That was probably the biggest pressure I’ve had in a game, thinking about him,” admitted Hayes.

Hibernian midfielder Stephane Omeonga has revealed that he received advice from his compatriot Dedryck Boyata - but the conversation had nothing to do with football. Omeonga said: “I actually spoke to Dedryck after the Celtic game and he gave me the address to a hairdresser but that’s all the advice I got.”

Elsewhere, the Scottish Sun believe that Neil Lennon and Steve Clarke are both on a shortlist to become the next permanent manager of Fulham.

Craig Levein has told the Daily Record that Scottish football needs VAR, and pointed to Wednesday night’s Champions League quarter final between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur as an example of the technology working effectively.

And Jack Ross has distanced himself from reports linking him to the Scotland job, according to the Scotsman.