History of the Scotland national football team left Scotland managerless with just over two months until the next matches against Georgia and Italy. Former Rangers manager Alex McLeish was hotly tipped and supported by Alex Ferguson to become the new manager, although long-term Scotland assistant manager Tommy Burns was also thought to be in the running. McLeish was appointed while Burns was not even approached, which caused Burns to resign from his position. Alex McLeish was appointed Scotland manager on 29 January 2007, and he hired Roy Aitken and Andy Watson as his assistants. McLeish's first match in charge was a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier against Georgia
PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year, but was renamed after the SPFA merged with the (English) Professional Footballers' Association to become PFA Scotland. The first winner of the award was Rangers striker Derek Johnstone, and the first non-Scottish winner was Aberdeen goalkeeper Theo Snelders eleven years later. As of 2018, only Henrik Larsson and Scott Brown have won the award on more than one occasion. Although there is a separate PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year award, young players remain eligible to win the senior award, and in the 2005–06 season Shaun Maloney became