Stuart McCall may quit Scotland role to return to club football
Tuesday 1 December 2015 18:58, UK
Former Motherwell boss Stuart McCall concedes he may have to consider giving up his post as assistant coach with Scotland if he is to return to club football.
McCall has been focused on helping Scotland try to qualify for Euro 2016 after a short spell in the Scottish Championship with Rangers at the end of last season.
But his time at Ibrox ended when Rangers failed to secure promotion to the top flight, losing 6-1 to Motherwell over two play-off games in May.
McCall is hoping for another club job soon, though, and he feels he may have to sacrifice his position as part of Gordon Strachan's team to do so.
"That would be something that would have to come into consideration," McCall said.
"It has come into consideration over the last 12 months. I probably could have gone into work elsewhere but I would have had to give Scotland up.
"I was hoping we would be in the Euros and that was going to be a difficult thing to do. That's not come about now.
"The plus side of going to a club in the Scottish Premiership, I could probably do the Scotland gig. If I go down south or wherever, I probably wouldn't be able to, so that will come into consideration.
"I would imagine there would be more opportunities down south but you never know in football.
"Last season when there was a small outside chance of going to Rangers, there were a couple of really good opportunities in England. And I felt I would rather wait and see because if I had taken them and the Rangers job came up, I would have regretted that.
"I don't regret going to Rangers for one second because up until the Motherwell games everything was fantastic and I really enjoyed it."
McCall was in demand from several Championship clubs in England during his time at Fir Park and passed up a concrete offer from Sheffield United in the summer of 2013.
After a successful three-and-a-half years with Motherwell, when he led them to a Scottish Cup final, the Champions League qualifiers and consecutive top-two finishes, McCall stepped down following a difficult spell at the start of last season.
"In the last couple of weeks I've watched a lot of football, down in England and up here, and I've got the enthusiasm, hunger and fire back now," the 51-year-old said.
"I'm desperate to go into a club where I think I can improve it and go back to doing what I do best and be on the football pitch.
"I've seen enough football, done enough media and I want to get out on the training ground. Even though it's the worst time of the year to do it, let's get those shorts back on."
