Bobby Williamson, the 64-year-old former Hibernian and Kilmarnock manager, has put himself forward for the role of Scotland head coach – and he wants to bring a dream team of Ally McCoist, Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson with him. Williamson, who has been out of football management for a decade, admitted his own name might not excite the Tartan Army, but believed his proposed backroom staff could. "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," he told BBC Radio Scotland.
The former Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham United and Kilmarnock striker revealed he was reading reports from his home in Africa about Steve Clarke's resignation as national head coach when his mind began 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.
“Bobby Williamson has applied for the Scotland head coach job, proposing a team including Ally McCoist, Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson.”
Williamson has previously managed the Kenyan and Ugandan national sides. In Uganda, he said, "we were getting 60,000 every home game - very passionate fans - and I handled that pressure okay." He added that he knows the passion of Scottish fans well.
His first move was to text his former Rangers teammate McCoist. "I said I am thinking about doing this and he said 'I'm in'," Williamson revealed. McCoist has managed Rangers and previously assisted Walter Smith with Scotland. Williamson then thought of bringing in younger coaches for the long-term benefit of Scotland. "I'm thinking long term for Scotland's benefit - bring in some younger coaches so they get the international experience," he said.
The proposed team includes Scott Brown, who won much silverware captaining Celtic, and Kevin Thomson, who helped Rangers to a UEFA Cup final. Both have played numerous games for Scotland at the top level, but Williamson acknowledged they lack coaching experience at that 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."
Williamson tried to contact Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell and the president, but said "it's not happened" and he has "someone else working on that to see if it is worth pursuing."