"In the case of Alex McLeish's appointment as Scotland manager, it seems - if one may plunder an immortal line from Casablanca – that destiny has taken a hand. The Tartan Army remain to be persuaded, to judge by the predominantly negative social media reaction to the 59-year-old's return to the job he quit in 2007 to move to Birmingham City, but McLeish does not see himself as third choice, although Michael O'Neill and Walter Smith rejected advances by the Scottish Football Association before the governing body turned to him. ""It feels a bit surreal but I believe I'm the guy for the job,"" McLeish said. ""When I looked at other guys who have gone back to take charge of their national teams for a second time - like Dick Advocaat and Louis Van Gaal - I thought 'Yeah, that could be on for me some time'. ""The opportunity arose and I felt I had to go for it, because I believe it was my destiny."" Asked how he had reacted to the invitations extended to O'Neill and Smith in the aftermath of Gordon Strachan's departure, along with their subsequent rejections, McLeish said: ""One was 'Ya beauty!', the next one was 'Oh, Walter is getting it.' ""When Walter abdicated I thought, 'I'm in again' but, honestly, I felt it was fate. It was meant to happen. Michael was the first choice, let's not make any bones about that, but I have always felt I was the right guy to be the next Scotland coach."" Scotland's first outing under McLeish will be the home friendly with Costa Rica on March 23 but he faces formidable opposition from Tartan Army supporters who have expressed disapproval of his decision to move to the Premier League in England 11 years ago, in the aftermath of the Scots' narrow failure to qualify for Euro 2008. ""Listen, of course I can understand it,"" he said. ""You get divided opinion. The only way to change it is by performing well and getting good results. That is the cure for dissent. ""I had seven months to wait before the next tournament started. I would have been a professional supporter, watching all the games, watching all the players up and do the country, but I really missed the day to day stuff. ""There was an element of thinking that I was still young enough to go and take that challenge on. To be asked to go to the Premier League is an ambition that a lot of managers would have taken, probably the majority. ""If we had just qualified there is no way that I would have left. I would have seen us right through to the finals, ambition or not. ""I would probably have been offered something after the finals. I was so gutted that we missed it by a whisker. Faddy (James McFadden) had a wee chance at 1-1 in the final qualifier against Italy, when the ball came across the box and he slid at it. Your life flashes in front of your eyes."" With no active interest in this summer's World Cup finals and the Euro 2020 qualifiers not scheduled to begin until March next year, McLeish will have to get the best from a programme of six friendlies and two home-and-away Nations League meetings with Albania and Israel. His political skills will be tested by the demands of two challenge matches arranged for the close season, one against Peru in Lima on May 29 and the other against Mexico in the Azteca Stadium on June 2. Celtic provided the core of Scotland's strength during Strachan's unbeaten run of seven games last year, with Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney, Stuart Armstrong, Scott Brown, James Forrest and Leigh Griffiths all named for the final World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Slovenia. Celtic, however, completed a clean sweep of the domestic honours last season and are on course to repeat the feat but must negotiate four round of Champions League qualifiers if they win the Scottish title again this time around. McLeish was unveiled on Friday at Hampden Park Credit: Getty Images The prospect of sending players to South America after another draining club season has not enchanted Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager. McLeish acknowledged the concerns, while comparing current circumstances with his own career as a central defender with Aberdeen. ""Back in my day if we had been promised a trip to Peru and Mexico in the summer we'd have been ecstatic,"" he said. ""It would have been, 'Hallelujah, brilliant' but, yeah, I can understand the clubs' stance with the way European football is now mapped out. ""I do understand that they maybe feel it wasn't appropriate timing, but it's there, we are going to go and it may be a good opportunity for other players. We are borrowing their players to turn out for the national team. ""We have to address that nearer the time. I have to have a rapport with the clubs. We will talk, we'll communicate and see what kind of answers we get."" McLeish has already begun the task of assembling a backroom staff – ""I've made some phone calls and I'm hopeful of announcing that maybe some time next week"" – before he returned to his opening theme. ""I feel I'm a better manager now. The common-sense factor grows and you see things from a different way. In terms of destiny, I just feel it's the right time for me."""
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