Mark McGhee is aware he has some rebuilding to do as far as his reputation is concerned, but he’s not particularly worried about it. He’s been named as assistant coach by Scotland’s Gordon Strachan, and both men seem delighted with the situation. Strachan says McGhee will be a great asset to the team; McGhee says he’s very excited by the challenge and what he sees as a real possibility of taking Scotland to the Euro Championships in 2016.
McGhee has had a rather checkered career since he retired from play and started managing. He has had some great seasons, but he’s also had more than a couple of not-great-at-all periods, the last one with the Bristol Rovers, who sacked him in December. However this doesn’t seem to bother him either. He said that he’s honoured to be chosen for this job and expects to do a great deal better than just keeping Scotland off the bottom; he believes they can do far better than that..
For his part, Strachan says that the team needs to start out with a positive frame of mind and the attitude that gaining international respect is a goal worth working for. He said Mark has the same philosophy and that his (Mark’s) enthusiasm will be a big asset. The two have been friends for a long time, and as former Scotland manager Craig Brown maintains, it’s best when colleagues are also friends. Brown commented, “They say football is an old pals act and it is.”
McGhee says he’s confident in the calibre of Scotland players; he said he had done some scouting for Scotland’s former manager Craig Levein (prior to Strachan taking the job just last week) so he knows there is “. . . a very exciting squad of players to work with . . .”. His vision of the future for team Scotland matches up nicely with Strachan’s; they hope to rise in the ranks – all the way to the top.