McLeish was subjected to the anger of both sides of Birmingham after he was relegated with the Blues in 2010-11 and promptly joined city rivals Villa in the summer.

A Scottish legend, McLeish played the majority of his 16-year career at Aberdeen, making nearly 500 appearances, and the defender also picked up 77 international caps for Scotland. As a manager he cut his teeth with Motherwell, having moved to the club as a player, but only made a handful of appearances before his switch to the coaching staff.

The Lanarkshire club found immediate success, relatively speaking, in 1994 as McLeish led them to second in the SPL, behind Rangers. However, he was unable to re-create that achievement and spent the next few seasons fighting a relegation battle.

With his early successes, McLeish made a name for himself and eventually left the club to join Hibernian in 1998. Hibs were struggling when McLeish arrived, and despite being relegated at the end of the season, the Scot got them promoted again the very next season, going on to consolidate their place in the league.

After a few years, McLeish had impressed enough though to seal a big move and Rangers were the club to pick him up in December 2001. McLeish was an instant success at Rangers, winning both the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup in his first season, but the big prize of the league title was essentially lost before his arrival. The following year though, McLeish won the domestic treble and brought the title back to Rangers. Winning over the fans with such success.

The boss rallied in the face of some pressure after losing the title to Celtic again and won it back in 2004-05 with a dramatic late push. This unexpected success saw his stock rise further and, in 2005-06, he made Rangers the first Scottish side to reach last 16 of the Champions League since 1993. However, despite this, bad results in the league saw increasing unrest at the club and chairman David Murray announced in February that the manager's contract would be terminated at the end of the season.

Having said that he had achieved everything in the Scottish game, McLeish looked for a new challenge, and found the Scottish national team job. Taking over in January 2007, he had to continue the good work done by Walter Smith in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign and would record an historic victory in Paris by defeating France 1-0 in the Parc des Princes. The result has been hailed as one of the Scotland national team's greatest victories, although they failed to make it to the final tournament.

With Birmingham interested in bringing McLeish to the Premier League after his exploits with Scotland, the SFA refused the midlands club permission to speak to him. Yet, with a desire to challenge himself in England, McLeish resigned from his post at Scotland in order to talk to Birmingham and was announced as the club's new boss a few days later.

His first season in the top flight ended in relegation, after an impressive start, but the board kept faith in the Scot. And rightly so, as he led the club back to the top flight at the first attempt by sealing promotion from the Championship with a 2-1 win at Reading. Consolidating once more, he led the Blues to an incredible 9th place but the following season was bittersweet.

Relegated to the Championship again, the Blues won their first trophy since 1963 by beating Arsenal 2-1 in the Carling Cup, but the end of the season saw McLeish shock many by opting to quit and join city rivals Aston Villa in the summer.

Strengths: An excellent man-manager, he is committed and passionate and demands the same from his players.

Weaknesses: Criticised for opting for defensive football when at home, he has also struggled in the transfer market when spending a lot of cash.

Career high: Winning the Treble with Rangers in 2003.

Career low: Defeat to Georgia as Scotland boss in 2007 saw the side blow their chances of qualifying for Euro 2008.

Tactics: Will attack with a 4-4-2 against sides he thinks he can beat, but likes to revert to a 4-5-1 with men behind the ball against the bigger sides.

Quotes: "Moving across the city has stirred some emotions, which I did not anticipate. I understand people have passions and I would just ask they didn't take it to extremes. That includes Birmingham fans, some of whom I'm sure would like to punch me." McLeish upon moving clubs in June 2011.

Trivia: In 2008 McLeish was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Aberdeen.