Williamson eyes Scotland job with McCoist on staff

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Image caption,

Bobby Williamson has managed Kenya and Uganda at international level

By Kheredine Idessane

BBC Sport Scotland senior reporter

Published 1 hour ago

Former Hibernian and Kilmarnock manager Bobby Williamson has put himself forward for the job as Scotland head coach leading a dream team of Ally McCoist, Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson.

The 64-year-old, who has previously managed the Kenyan and Ugandan national sides, admits "I'm not going to excite the Tartan Army" but thinks his backroom team could.

McCoist managed Rangers and previously assisted Walter Smith with Scotland, Brown won much silverware captaining Celtic, while Thomson helped Rangers to a Uefa Cup final.

"I tried to get through to [Scottish FA chief executive] Ian Maxwell and the president, but it's not happened and I've obviously got someone else working on that to see if it is worth pursuing," 64-year-old Williamson told BBC Radio Scotland.

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"I am not going to excite the Tartan Army, I know that for a fact, but maybe with these future international coaches getting a go at it, that might excite them because of what they achieved with Scotland and their club sides."

Former Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham United and Kilmarnock striker Williamson has been out of football management for 10 years.

However, reading reports from his home in Nairobi about Steve Clarke's resignation as national head coach set his mind racing.

"I've been out of the game for a while, but I was looking at the newspaper reports about who's favourite to get the job and I thought my CV stacks up very well," he said.

"I've managed two national teams here in Africa. In Uganda, we were getting 60,000 every home game - very passionate fans - and I handled that pressure okay.

"I know the passion of the Scottish fans well and they don't want to be let down and I thought 'could I give it a go?'."

Williamson was a team-mate of McCoist's at Rangers, while Brown and Thomson were young midfielders when he managed Hibs.

"So my first text message was to Alistair McCoist and I said I am thinking about doing this and he said 'I'm in'," he revealed.

"So I started thinking 'who else?' and I'm thinking long term for Scotland's benefit - bring in some younger coaches so they get the international experience.

"Both of these guys - Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson - have played numerous games for Scotland, they have played at the top level.

"They certainly have that knowledge, but they have not really experienced the coaching side of the game at that level and I thought, if I could help these guys, it would give Scotland options down the line and maybe some continuity."

As a manager, Williamson led Kilmarnock to Scottish Cup glory in 1997, led Plymouth Argyle to the Championship, won the 2011 CECAFA Cup regional tournament with Uganda and led Gor Mahia to the Kenyan league title.

Williamson, though, admits "it is a big if" as he puts himself forward as a possible Scotland head coach.

"They probably have wheels in motion and have identified candidates anyway," he added.

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