Smith: Brum deal right for McLeish

Rangers manager Walter Smith believes Alex McLeish has picked the right time to take the plunge and try his luck in the Premier League.

McLeish followed in the footsteps of Smith by quitting as Scotland manager to return to club management following a successful spell with the national team.

"They couldn't get a better person than Alex in," said Smith. "He's at exactly the right stage of his career for this move."

He added: "It's a new arena for him - as was the international arena. He has shown in management what he has picked up at Motherwell and Rangers has stood him in good stead.

"He has now got the international experience and I'm sure he will thoroughly enjoy the experience in the Premiership."

Like Smith's own spell at Everton, McLeish has gone to a club struggling at the wrong end of the table but the Rangers boss believes he will relish the challenge.

He said: "It's a stressful environment to work in - everybody knows that - but it's a really enjoyable one.

"When most of your career has been in Scotland as Alex's has, playing each other four times, year in year out, a wee bit of staleness can creep in.

"One of the aspects you find is that at Rangers you're expected to win all the time. When I went to Everton there were different circumstances.

"Everton are a great club but they have been through different circumstances, so you go from a situation where you're expected to win all the time to one where you're fighting against the odds a wee bit - And Alex will be the same at Birmingham in the position they're in."