I Must have been in the minority but I was quite pleased at the time, he had done well at both Motherwell and Hibs. It was obvious we had lived beyond our means with Advocaat and had to reign ourselves in a bit, for me he fitted the bill quite well.
His record with us was also reasonable. Yes we have a couple of bad years, his final one in particular was dreadful but he also won us the treble and gave us the two most memorable league wins in living memory. And he also got us to the last 26 of the champions league, facts often overlooked when discussing Eck.
I’m with you. I thought it was the sensible option at the time.
McLeish managed us fantastically well in his first 18 months.
Yes we were terrible in 03/04 and 05/06, but people are quite ignorant of some of the facts around that time.
I can’t remember the full squads we had at the times off the top of my head, but first 18 months he’d started getting the best out of Ricksen and had pretty much converted him into a right of centre midfielder and really harnessed his energy.
After the two cup wins the only major signing was Arteta, and we then won the treble, securing 5 trophies in a row.
In 03/04, we may have coped with the loss of Amo, if we hadn’t lost Ferguson. That just ripped the heart right out of us, and the last minute replacements were dire. Coupled with some poor moves, Capucho in Canniggia out etc, it was just disastrous!
However, another thing to throw back at the “shite when he signs his own players” crew, is that he totally rebuilt us with Soti and Marvin at the back, Alex Rae in midfield, and Prso and Novo up front.
A pure workman like team built on a fucking shoestring budget, and they/he gave us Helicopter Sunday!
The 05/06 Season though, is pretty much indefensible. Some of the selections, tactics, performances..... deep breaths.......it was as bad as people are making out.
People talking about players, signings etc.....Hamed Namouchi was a fucking atrocious footballer and Eck played him nearly every week!! He was so so bad, and what McLeish saw....Jesus...I’ll never know!
One of the few bright spots that season, he signed Kris Boyd, who was another obvious signing to make. We also got to the last 16 as already mentioned, but it really didn’t lift the mood around us. It was just dire.
But, Alex McLeish must be remembered fondly by most bears.
Here was a guy who bested their Republican hero manager with Advocaat’s ‘duds’, won everything in an 18 month spell, including a treble.
Rebuilt for 04/05 on a continually reducing budget and bested him again.
Make no mistake. The timsfucking love O’Neill, he epitomises their 19th Century Terroristness, and Alex McLeish, despite his obvious flaws and failures over his tenure, fucking stuck it to him big time.
In my 40 years, that’s the best they’ve ever been. The strongest, the hardest, and at a time when the balance was shifting a bit.
Alex McLeish redressed the balance. He shut their fucking republican resurgence down.
On an interview after that treble win, he told Radio Scotland in a big interview that his dad was a proud Orangeman and a Rangers man, and he hoped he was proud of what he achieved.
I’ll never be Alex McLeish’sbiggest fan, and I get the anger at 03/04 and 05/06, but in terms of what he achieved, and what he was up against, we owe him a fucking massive debt of gratitude.
Alex McLeish is a massive bear, and he overachieved in his time as our manager!
He was also in my opinion the right appointment at the time.
