Former Manchester United boss David Moyes has declared his interest in the Scotland job but said his preference is a return to club management.
Scotland manager Alex McLeish has come in for heavy criticism after his team’s abject 3-0 defeat by Kazakhstan in their opening Euro 2020 qualifier last Thursday.
Moyes has been out of work since retaining West Ham United’s Premier League status in a six-month spell, which ended in May last year, and remains keen to rebuild his reputation after unsuccessful stints at United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland.
“Club football would be my choice, but Scotland’s my country and I’m really passionate,” Moyes told the BBC.
With McLeish’s Scotland booed off the pitch after Sunday’s unconvincing 2-0 win over San Marino, Moyes believes it is time for the national team to work with the Scottish Premiership on raising standings of youth development in the country.
“The Scotland job is difficult for anybody because there’s great expectation,” the 55-year-old Scot added. “I don’t think there’s any one way we can fix it. I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve got some ideas and thoughts.
“There are many things we’re not doing in Scotland, we’ve chosen to bring in lots of foreign players, and cheap foreign players, and maybe a lot of the young Scottish players are not getting the opportunities.
“We need to see if we can find a solution to develop more players, but we’re not going to do it in two or four years, it’s a 10 or 15-year plan.”
Moyes has also been linked with the Celtic job by the British media but the former Everton boss expects caretaker manager Neil Lennon to take the role permanently at Parkhead.
“I would always be interested, but Lenny’s done a brilliant job. He’s been there before and the job he’s doing at the moment would warrant being the Celtic manager,” Moyes said.