Craig Levein has been confirmed as the new Scotland coach after
Dundee United agreed Wednesday to release him.
"When I first got word of the SFA being interested in me
being the manager, obviously I was very excited indeed," Levein
said at his unveiling at Hampden. "It's difficult to express just
how proud I feel being a Scotsman and having followed the national
team all my life."
Levein had initially been unable to travel to Glasgow to sign
a 2 1/2-year contract with the Scottish Football Association
because Britain has been hit by icy temperatures and heavy snow
over the past week, making road travel difficult.
"My job is to try to do the best job that I can for the
country, to work as hard as I can to see if we can take Scotland
back into, if possible, into the next qualifying campaign and see
if we can qualify for the Euros," Levein said.
Dundee United has appointed Peter Houston as caretaker
manager for Saturday's Scottish Premier League match at Kilmarnock
and is inviting applications for a permanent successor to Levein.
The club's chairman Stephen Thompson is unhappy that the SFA
has taken so long to complete the deal but still wished Levein well
in his attempt to guide Scotland to a first major championship
since the 1998 World Cup.
"He has done a great job for us and leaves the team, and the
club as a whole, in a much better position than it was when he
arrived here," Thompson said. "While we always knew he would move
on to a bigger job and are flattered that the job he has done here
has brought him to the attention of the national team, we're
nevertheless very disappointed Craig is leaving us at this time.
"However, he leaves with our gratitude and best wishes for
the future."
The 45-year-old Levein has spent the past three years with
Dundee United, guiding the team from the lower half of the Scottish
Premier League to fifth place in each of his two full seasons in
charge.
Thompson had wanted about 250,000 pounds ($398,400) in
compensation for a manager who twice guided Hearts to third place
in the Scottish Premier League before a disappointing spell in
England with Leicester.
The SFA fired coach George Burley five weeks ago following a
3-0 friendly loss to Wales. He had won just three of 14 matches and
had failed to mount a serious challenge for a place at next year's
World Cup.
"While it is a great honor to be asked to manage your
country, it was a very difficult decision to leave Dundee United,"
Levein said. "I have, and will continue to have, a great affection
and respect for the club and its supporters, who have given me such
strong support from the day I arrived."
Scotland will find out in February which nations it will have
to beat if it is to qualify for the 2012 European Championship.
A strong second-place finish in the Scots' 2010 World Cup
qualifying group could have secured a playoff spot but they
finished third to the Netherlands and Norway.
