John Bird: Best Scotland manager in recent times that would have got us qualification but for a terrible refereeing decision back in 2007 vs Italy. Good appointment.

John Rodger: Typical SFA embarrassment, didn't expect anything else sadly.

John Cannon: Shocking, why sack Gordon Strachan then get in Alex McLeish? Disgusted by decision, Stevie Clarke would've been my choice, Malky Mackay even Gary Caldwell. A real backward step by Scotland.

Pie & Bovril on Twitter: Genuinely wish Alex McLeish well. The glaring issue in central defence that has cost us so dearly is there to be fixed now with promising options like Hendry, Lindsay, McCrorie, McKenna, Porteous & Souttar. Have to find system that accommodates both Tierney and Robertson starting.

Colin Darroch: Strachan a better option... we've gone backwards! Not McLeish's fault that nobody better actually wants to be Scotland manager! Stevie Clarke would have been my choice, but he's no doubt happy where he is.... until a good job in England comes along.

Thomas Teasdale: The last two successful Scotland managers - Andy Roxburgh and Craig Brown - neither of them were so called big time managers. I think Big Eck is a panic appointment and certainly not the answer but what choice do the support have.

Nick Hosie: Unadventurous. Uninspiring. No better than Gordon Strachan. Need to get some young players in team and stick with them.

Lenny Wood: Very sad day for Scottish fans, just a step backwards for us, I thought we would have done a lot better the Eck

James Kane: Took us on our best run of recent times when he was in charge. Hopefully we'll see the same committed performances this time too.

With a handshake reminiscent of the famous one across the car bonnet in Minder, McRae and McLeish trade a shake and a smile before saying no questions until after a photo-call.

We'll need to wait a bit longer to hear Scotland's sports journalists grill the new man at the helm...

Image source, PA

"I'm absolutely ecstatic The goals are to win our group and get to the Euros in 2020. I believe I'm the right guy for the job," says new Scotland manager Alex McLeish.

McLeish says he is a better coach for his experiences at home and abroad, adding he wants to give the Tartan Army "a major treat" by qualifying for a major finals.

Image source, PA

SFA President Alan McRae welcomes Alex McLeish as Scotland's "new national head coach" amid the whirr and flashes of cameras as the Hampden media conference gets under way.

"No pressure Alex," quips McRae as he allows McLeish to take the mic...

Bob Greig: Did a pretty good job last time and I hope he goes one step further this time and takes Scotland to a major championship after all these years.

Iain Scott: Better than some of the guff names that were being thrown about. Caldwell? Malky Mackay? Scott Gemmell? McLeish has experience of managing at this level and will have us playing decent football again.

Steven Bremner: Oh dear, another 2 years of failure. Time for a clearing out of the SFA, which is now an acronym for something else!

SFA President Alan McRae: “Alex McLeish is a true Scotland legend and a natural leader who has enjoyed success at club level in Scotland and England and at international level.

“It is a rarity to be in a position to appoint someone who has experience of successfully managing their country and we are delighted to reach an agreement with Alex.

“During the recruitment process he received resounding endorsements from several influential figures in the game which helped establish him as an outstanding choice from a strong list of possible candidates.

“Alex has demonstrated a desire and ability to get results with the national team and we believe that he is best placed to inspire our talented group of players to glory.

“With Hampden Park hosting matches at UEFA Euro 2020 it is more important than ever before for Scotland to qualify for a tournament finals and we believe that Alex is the exemplary candidate to guide us there.”

Image source, SNS

Scotland manager Alex McLeish on his return in charge of the national side: "It is a tremendous honour to be named Scotland national team head coach.

“I am incredibly fortunate to have had the chance to lead my country already and I am immensely proud to be in this position for a second time.

“There is much to be positive about in Scottish football, with players playing at the highest level and promising talent breaking through.

“With Hampden Park as one of the host venues for Euro 2020 we have an amazing opportunity to showcase our talents to the world from our own back yard.

“I am relishing the challenge of leading us to a major tournament and I cannot wait to get started.”

John Barnes
BBC Scotland

Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke says he is relieved he will no longer be "pestered" by the media about the Scotland job. Clarke, who had been linked with the vacancy, says as far as he was concerned it was never a story...

Norman MacArthur: I find it hard to agree with his appointment, but now it's been made why don't we all just get behind him and forget about the past. That's what I'll do anyway.

Stephen Fernie: Just happy that Steven Clarke is still the Killie manager.

"It's official," says the SFA., external "Alex McLeish is the new Scotland National Team Head Coach."

Pat Nevin
Former Scotland international

"Interesting. I think there have been a lot of good Scotland managers over the years and Alex McLeish was one of them. His time originally with Scotland wasn't long - it was fairly brief. But he was good, and I think he was doing very well.

"[However] a lot of Scotland fans haven't quite forgiven him yet for walking out on the job, as they saw it.

Image source, PA

"Off the top of my head, I think it was 10 games: seven wins and three draws. That wasn't bad considering where Scotland were at the time. We were feeling good about ourselves, so a lot of people were disappointed. But he's a good manager and certainly knows a lot of the players well.

"There were four or five very good candidates and he's certainly one of them. There are people like Steve Clarke but you'd need to buy him out of his contract [at Kilmarnock] and everyone has some little bit of baggage with them, generally. Alex is free and available - that's another big one as well. He was trusted to do the job last time and he didn't let anyone down, other than the caveat that he walked out of the job eventually.

Image source, SNS

"I know Alex well and he was a team-mate of mine as a Scotland player and he immediately gets respect from the players. He's done it at the very, very top level. He's managed in the [English] Premier League, he's managed in the top league in Scotland and he's been an international manager. So, there's a lot of positives. Others will say he's had a lot failures as well - point me to the manager who hasn't."