Murray appointed ex-Aberdeen defender Alex McLeish as the club's eleventh manager on 11 December 2001, joining McLeish was assistant Andy Watson. Murray's choice of manager was met with a lukewarm reaction amongst many Rangers supporters. Many fans viewed it as symptomatic of the downsizing of the club's ambitions, while others saw in McLeish a manager whose mixed fortunes at Hibernian and Motherwell left him ill-equipped to cope with the demands of managing a high-profile club like Rangers. However, McLeish was the number one managerial target on a four-man shortlist. Others said to be included on the list were the then Ipswich Town manager George Burley, former Germany coach Berti Vogts and George Graham.