Alex McLeish left Scotland searching for their third manager of the year after he resigned from his post.
Just a day after the Scottish Football Association (SFA) refused managerless Birmingham City permission to talk to McLeish, the former Motherwell and Rangers boss effectively became a free agent when he quit.
City, a point above the English Premier League relegation zone, held a news conference yesterday to announce McLeish as their new manager ahead of Sunday's game against Tottenham.
The 48-year-old Scotsman takes over from Steve Bruce, who left the club after six years last week to join Wigan.
Birmingham are 16th in the Premier League with 11 points.
McLeish signed a three-and-a-half year contract and will be joined by assistant coaches Roy Aitken and Andy Watson, who worked with him with the Scotland team.
McLeish's standing rose as he guided Scotland to seven wins in 10 matches after replacing Walter Smith, who quit the national side in January for a second spell in charge of Glasgow giants Rangers.
But that run, which included impressive home and away wins against France, wasn't enough to get Scotland into next year's European Championships in Austria and Switzerland following a 2-1 defeat by world champions Italy during their final qualifying match at Glasgow's Hampden Park on Nov. 17.
SFA chief executive Gordon Smith, while taken aback by the speed of events, said he understood why the former Aberdeen and Scotland center-half was prepared to give up the chance of guiding Scotland in their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign to take over at a struggling Premiership side.
"It's one of those things. It's market forces these days and the Premier League is where lots of guys want to be," he said.
SFA president George Peat added: "I am disappointed that Alex has chosen this course of action. He is an outstanding manager who has done a fantastic job with the national team."
"Everyone at the SFA and indeed Scotland fans around the world were looking forward to Alex leading us into the World Cup qualification campaign," he said.
"This is why we chose to offer Alex an extended contract while we were in South Africa. Sadly, he has chosen not to take up this offer," Peat said.
Candidates to replace McLeish as Scotland boss include former international midfielders Gary McAllister, previously considered for the post when Walter Smith resigned in January, and Graeme Souness as well as Billy Davies, effectively axed on Monday as manager of English Premiership basement club Derby.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two