Scotland job not easy but I will enjoy it – Strachan

The former Coventry, Southampton, Celtic and Middlesbrough boss was confirmed in the post by the Scottish Football Association at Hampden.

Strachan – who captained Leeds United to the then Division One title in 1991-92 – started his career as a teenager at Dundee and also played at Aberdeen, Manchester United and Coventry City. He earned 50 caps for Scotland.

The 55-year-old has been out of management since leaving Boro in October 2010, but he realised a long-held dream when made boss of his national side on a contract that will take him through to the 2016 European Championship qualifiers.

“I am very proud of myself, but my family, my wife, mother, grandchildren, children and my friends are very proud so it shows you how important the Scotland job is,” he said. “It is probably 40 years in the making to get here.

“It is a job that I wanted to do and for a Scotsman, this is a fantastic thing.

“When I was a kid I wanted to play for Scotland and I did that.

“Then I started coaching and I thought ‘I want to be the Scotland manager some day’ so I have achieved that with the help of a lot of people and players.

“It is going to be difficult; every job is difficult. The Coventry job is difficult, Southampton, Middlesbrough, they are all difficult.

“You don’t get an easy one, but you can still enjoy it. But the idea is to make people happy and win games of football.”

Strachan was interviewed for the job in 2004 following the dismissal of Berti Vogts, but lost out to rival candidate Walter Smith.

He insists that disappointment turned out to be a blessing in disguise, enabling him to ‘go away and learn my job and continue to improve players and squads’.