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Former Rangers and Aston Villa boss could be heading back to UK

| 31.03.2015

Adored north-of-the-border but treated with disdain by many football fans from around the Midlands area, Alex McLeish could soon be heading back to British football.

Currently in charge of Belgian top-flight outfit Racing Club Genk, the 56-year-old arrived at the club back in the summer, following a disastrous short-stint in charge of Nottingham Forest.

Prior to that the Scot had been at the helm of Aston Villa, having replaced Gerard Houllier following his similarly disastrous spell in charge, winning just nine of his 42 matches as manager of the Claret and Blue before being replaced by Paul Lambert.

A spell of just over three-and-a-half years in charge of local rivals Birmingham City may have seen the Blues shock Arsenal to win the League Cup in 2011 but the club was also relegated from the Premier League twice during his time in charge.

Now at the helm of Genk, McLeish looks likely to be on the move again with The Herald reporting that club may already looking for replacements.

It comes after a defeat to Standard Liege ensured that the club would not make the end-of-season title play-offs, with chairman Herbet Houben already appearing to indicate he has begun the search for a replacement.

With McLeish potentially out of work, a return to Scotland could pose the best option to the one-time European Cup Winners’ Cup winner, as a player under Sir Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen.

At Motherwell, the 58-year-old guided the club to a runners-up finish in the Scottish Premier League back in 1995.

Later, at Hibernian, McLeish helped the Edinburgh giants to the final of the Scottish Cup in 2001 having previously guided the team back to the top flight in 1999.

His biggest achievements came at Rangers, however, with the Scot securing two Scottish Premier League titles, two Scottish Cups and three Scottish League Cups during his tenure.

The 2002-03 season, in particular, was a high point with the Gers winning a sensational domestic treble under McLeish.

On the international front, meanwhile, he came close to getting Scotland on the plane to Euro 2008, taking qualification rivals Italy and France right down to the wire.

Now facing something of an uncertain future, we can think of plenty of teams north of the border who would welcome him back with open arms.

Just avoid Birmingham and Nottingham at all costs Alex.

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Author

Jack Beresford

Jack Beresford is a content writer with over five years of experience in writing about sport and betting, including a two-year spell with Axonn Media. Contributes articles to HereIsTheCity and Lad Bible, while previous credits include Bwin, FTB Pro, Bleacher Report and the QBE rugby. Avid follower of tennis, rugby union, motorsport and football, Jack also writes about poker for Cardspiel.com alongside Guardian journalist Dominic Wells.