Alex McLeish
Seasons Quick-View
Season
Age
Division
Position
Games
Won
Drew
Lost
Win %
Lost %
Unbeaten %
Goals For
Goals Against
Goal difference
Goals per game
Conceded per game
Clean sheets
Points per game
2011-12 |
52 |
PL |
16th |
42 |
9 |
17 |
16 |
21% |
38% |
62% |
44 |
59 |
-15 |
1.05 |
1.4 |
24.00% |
15 |
*Age on opening day of the season
FAC: FA Cup; FL: Football League; D1: Division 1; D2: Division 2; D3: Division 3; PL: Premier League; CH: Championship
Alexander McLeish
Birth Date
21 January 1959
Birth Place
Glasgow
Birth Country
Scotland
🏴
Playing Position
Defender
Playing Career
1976-94 Aberdeen
Scottish Premier League
🕒 495 | ⚽ 25 | (League)
1976 Lewis United, Lown
1994-95 Motherwell
Scottish Premier League
🕒 3 | ⚽ 0 | (League)
1995 Retired aged 36
Previous Coaching & Managerial Roles
1994-98 Motherwell
Manager
Scottish Premier League
13 Jul 1994 to 10 Feb 1998
🕒 156 | PPG 1.21
Career Form: Bottom 8
1998-01 Hibernian
Manager
Scottish First Division, Premier League
11 Feb 1998 to 11 Dec 2001
🕒 164 | PPG 1.66
Career Form: Top 6
2001-06 Glasgow Rangers
Manager
Scottish Premier League
13 Dec 2001 to 8 May 2006
🕒 235 | PPG 2.17
Career Form: Champions
2007 Scotland
Manager
29 Jan 2007 to 27 Nov 2007
2007-11 Birmingham City
Manager
Premier League, Championship
27 Nov 2007 to 12 Jun 2011
🕒 168 | PPG 1.41
Career Form: Mid Table
Trophies Won
1998-99 Scottish First Division
Hibernian
2002-03 Scottish Premier League
Glasgow Rangers
2004-05 Scottish Premier League
Glasgow Rangers
2010-11 League Cup
Birmingham City
Subsequent Coaching & Managerial Roles
2012-13 Nottingham Forest
Manager
Championship
28 Dec 2012 to 5 Feb 2013
🕒 7 | PPG 0.71
Career Form: Relegation
2014-15 K.R.C. Genk
Manager
Belgian Pro League
25 Aug 2014 to 24 May 2015
🕒 32 | PPG 1.81
Career Form: Top 4
2016 Zamalek SC
Manager
Egyptian Premier League
26 Feb 2016 to 2 May 2016
🕒 10 | PPG 2.00
Career Form: Top 4
2018-19 Scotland National Team
Manager
16 Feb 2018 to 18 Apr 2019
🕒 12 | PPG 1.25
🟩 Win Performance
10 Wins:
Games
15 Wins:
Games
20 Wins:
Games
30 Wins:
Games
40 Wins:
Games
50 Wins:
Games
60 Wins:
Games
70 Wins:
Games
80 Wins:
Games
90 Wins:
Games
100 Wins:
Games
125 Wins:
Games
150 Wins:
Games
175 Wins:
Games
200 Wins:
Games
250 Wins:
Games
300 Wins:
Games
400 Wins:
Games
500 Wins:
Games
600 Wins:
Games
⭐ Best performance of any Villa boss
‼️ Worst performance of any Villa boss
Joined
Aged
52
On
17 June 2011
From
Birmingham City
Manager
Appointed Manager
Aged
52
On
17 June 2011
Succeeding
Gary McAllister | 🏴 | (Caretaker)
From
Birmingham City
Manager
Villa Managerial Debut
🟨 30 August 2011, Villa 0-0 Fulham, Craven Cottage
Villa Career
🕒 42 | 🟩 | 9 🟨 | 17 🟥 16 | 1.05
Games
42
Win Rate
21%
Loss Rate
39%
Unbeaten Rate
61%
Points per game
1.05
Honours
Managed the Villa
League finishes
![Unai Emery.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9be7fa_1388b96764fa4a9aaff320f750c3706d~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_45,h_75,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_3,enc_auto/Unai%20Emery.png)
2011-12
Premier League
16th of 20
FA Cup finishes
![Unai Emery.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9be7fa_b2ec8c310a994bf0aa7e2c739040e034~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_45,h_75,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_3,enc_auto/Unai%20Emery.png)
2011-12
4th Round
Lost to Arsenal
League Cup finishes
![Unai Emery.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9be7fa_4db8c991ad184c43826a0edd90e5db56~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_45,h_75,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_3,enc_auto/Unai%20Emery.png)
2011-12
3rd Round
Lost to Bolton Wanderers
European finishes
n/a
Notable Players
GK Shay Given | 🇮🇪 |
CB Richard Dunne | 🇮🇪 |
CB James Collins | 🏴 |
RB Alan Hutton | 🏴 |
FB Stephen Warnock | 🏴 |
M Stephen Ireland | 🇮🇪 |
M Stiliyan Petrov | 🇧🇬 |
M Chris Herd | 🇦🇺 |
W Charles N'Zogbia | 🇫🇷 |
CF Emile Heskey | 🏴 |
CF Robbie Keane | 🇮🇪 |
CF Gabriel Agbonlahor | 🏴 |
Supported by
Peter Grant
Served under
2011-12
Chairman, Randolph Lerner
Chief Executive, Paul Faulkner
Final Villa Managerial Game
🟥 13 May 2012, Villa 0-2 Norwich, Carrow Road
Left Position
Aged
14 May 2012
Due to
53
The phrase 'hiding to nothing' springs to mind. A nonsensical appointment following hot on the heels of the Houllier folly. Not just taking a manager from the neighbours but one who had just masterminded a relegation and who played the most dour, utterly non Villa football, imaginable. That it didn't end well is no surprise. That the signings - far better than in recent and subsequent seasons - suffered such misfortune during the campaign just made matters worse. But McLeish couldn't be blamed for taking his big opportunity, he and Villla just should have known better.
Succeeded by
Paul Lambert | 🏴 |
Alex McLeish
Manager #26 for Aston Villa, Alex McLeish. Villa had failed to prepare for the tempestuous nature and selfish denouement of Martin O’Neill only to then appoint the woefully unfit for purpose Gérard Houllier as first team manager for him to fail to either start or end the season in place. As Villa’s squad shrank and regressed so did the logic in the boardroom and a freshly relegated manager and purveyor of some of the most negative football the top flight of the English game had ever seen was appointed to a post he had no CV to deserve.
That the appointment of Alex McLeish also included a move from neighbours Birmingham City and required significant compensation payments simply compounded the embarrassment.
That said, McLeish was not a selfish, self centred man like Martin O’Neill, and was not a disrespectful and destructive influence like Gérard Houllier. McLeish was however hopelessly ill-suited to managing Villa and so it proved over one of the most torturous seasons Villa had seen to date.
Villa had considered the deeply flawed Roberto Martinez and Mark Hughes, both of whom would have been barely welcomed given their track records, as well as allegedly coming close to the managerial pariah that was the laughing stock of Steve McLaren. Yet amongst those less than inspiring candidates was also Frank Rijkaard, yet Villa pulled for McLeish, not the first, and certainly not the last of crazy appointments by Villa but certainly the one with the most inevitable conclusion.
Then owner Randy Lerner, whose understanding of football had always been tenuous, decreed from New York that McLeish was his chosen man and to this day the reasoning remains unclear however his instructions to his Villa deputy Faulkner was to get McLeish’s signature whatever the cost.
As Faulkner himself recalled “Ultimately it wasn’t a year to look back on fondly.”
The thing is though, McLeish had more dignity and commitment in his little toe than did his three predecessors O’Leary, O’Neill and Houllier combined.
McLeish also made some intelligent signings and with more luck the likes of Robbie Keane, Charles N’Zogbia, Jermaine Jenas would have been long term contributors to Villa’s success as proved his signings of Alan Hutton and to a lesser extent Shay Given, both of whose Villa careers were disrupted and in Given’s case ended by McLeish’s successor.
The whole campaign was however overshadowed by the news that Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov had been diagnosed with leukaemia and a club and fan base which had begun to fracture, combined to pray for Stan. McLeish of course throughout was dignity personified and although performances on the pitch were inevitably dour, as was his being relieved of his duties at the season end, Alex McLeish does not deserve to be spoken in the same breath of disdain as either his predecessor or successor.