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BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) -Alex McLeish was appointed manager of Birmingham on Wednesday, a day after resigning as coach of Scotland.
The 48-year-old Scotsman takes over from Steve Bruce, who left the club after six years last week to join Wigan.
Birmingham is 16th in the Premier League with 11 points, and travels to Tottenham on Sunday.
McLeish signed a 3 1/2-year contract and will be joined by assistant coaches Roy Aitken and Andy Watson, who worked with him at the Scotland team.
"I absolutely loved my time as coach of the national team," McLeish said. "But it rekindled my passion of being able to work with players every day.
"I have always harbored a desire to manage in the Premier League and I am really excited about the challenge."
McLeish nearly guided the Scots to qualification for the 2008 European Championship in a group that included Italy and France.
McLeish played for Aberdeen and Motherwell as a center half and made 77 appearances for Scotland. As a manager, he's coached Motherwell, Hibernian and Rangers, which he led from 2001 to 2006.
He'll face a familiar face in his new region - Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill, who was in charge of Rangers' rival Celtic from 2000 until 2005.
Villa won 2-1 at Birmingham in the Premier League on Nov. 11. The two next meet in the league at Villa on April 20.
Bruce is believed to have left Birmingham because the club's potential new owner, Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung, would not endorse a contract extension.
"It was a bizarre situation in the sense that a takeover board won't allow you to enhance an existing contract - in this instance Steve's - but you can offer a brand new contract to a brand new person," Birmingham chairman David Gold said.
In July, Yeung's company Grandtop International Holding Ltd. completed a deal to buy 29.91 percent of Birmingham shares, with a view to a takeover.
Gold said he wasn't sure it would go ahead.
"Two weeks ago, I said it was 75 per cent on and now I think it is below 50 percent - only time will tell," Gold said. "We, the board, must act as if the takeover will not happen and make decisions in the best interests of the club - which is what we have done in appointing Alex."
