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Some of that I agree with. Some less so. I can't say I loathe him. Even though things didn't work as well as they might I always thought McLeish was a really good bloke. Any dealings I had with him he was friendly, happy to give of his time and pretty open and honest. You're absolutely right though in that I can barely recall a Motherwell manager getting the same "protection" in the media. The further down the table we went the more he seemed to be talked up as this terrific promising young manager. I remember him being linked with a move away around the time we to Parkhead and got smashed 5-0. You might have thought some questions might have been asked but no the line was that Motherwell fans should be doing everything they could to encourage this great young manager in the making to stay. He was sensible enough to continue to let McLean's team do its stuff but when that twenty odd game domestic run came to a halt the slide was never really halted. We did enough to finish second of course but the second half of that saw saw a 6-1 loss to Dundee Utd who were relegated and 3-0 to Falkirk who were fighting relegation and that was as good as it would ever be. The most curious thing of his reign was the amount of money he had to spend. And to this day it remains baffling that Tommy McLean moved on supposedly because Motherwell wouldn't match his ambitions yet the club were seemingly happy gave a managerial novice free reign to spend something like £1m - £1.5m. There's no question in my mind though that clubs knew we had the Phil O'Donnell money and we literally paid the price. I tend to think when set in the context of the time most of his signings made some sense even if many were overpriced and plenty didn't work out. Scott Howie for example was a former Scotland U21 goalkeeper tipped for big things but he never fulfilled his potential. Hendry had scored goals in the English top flight and was reasonably highly related. McSkimming and May were both arguably performing at the peak of their careers when he signed them. It wasn't all bad. He brought Valakari to the club, spotted something in Craigan and brought him over from NI, the likes of Coyle and Falconer were decent signings and gave us something when needed and he played a fair part in the development of the likes of McCulloch and McMillan who would latterly earn the club a fair bit. I think the likes of Hibs and Rangers certainly benefited from him cutting his teeth at Motherwell and you're right when his time at Fir Park was up he went away better for the experience whilst we were some way back from where we'd been when he first walked in the door.

Im a better left back than Shinnie and im 55.

Glad they didn't add the hoop to the yellow one, but looks great on the amber version.

I wouldn't for one second attempt a diagnosis, but it was obvious from his media appearances prior to the Scotland job that he had some kind of illness. Primarily from the mild slurring in his speech. Of course, that doesn't mean dementia - for all I know it could be a dental issue. Or even a mild stroke from which he's made an otherwise full recovery. Unfortunately, as a prominent centre-half in his day that spent many years heading heavy footballs, it is more likely to be some kind of head-trauma related condition. Regardless, I agree with Al B. Putting his history as Motherwell gaffer aside, he is worthy of the legend status playing in a team that broke the OF stranglehold on the SPL title, winning a European trophy and being half of a defnesive partnership with Willie Miller that was truly world class. He just shouldn't have been anywhere near the Scotland job.

I don't have much time for Alex McLeish. His time in charge at Fir Park was the only time I've ever considered stopping going to Fir Park. He couldn't leave us quick enough to go to Hibs and annoyed our directors big time in the process. He did the same at Hibs (what went around came around) to join Rangers. It left a bad taste in the mouth. When he was sacked from Ibrox he was slotted in by the SFA as national manager. When an offer came in from Birmingham he was offski double quick again. In his managerial career he's shown no loyalty or class at all. I've always been of the view he should never have been re-appointed last year. Part of the Old Boys network. That was before I read your post Al. Like many, I've suspected that he's had health problems but didn't know any specifics. I'm genuinely sorry to hear that it might be early onset dementia - a horrible condition and if that is indeed the case I wish him and his family well. However, if he knew that, before being offered the Scotland job once again he should not have accepted it. He will be very well off financially and is 60 after all. Whats more if he told the SFA about it at the time and they were still keen to appoint him then they too must accept a fair share of responsibility. In short a totally unsatisfactory situation all round. Lets not forget that he's human though and if he does have a serious illness then I wish him well. It could happen to any of us. To finish on a lighter note, after this extremely depressing subject, Theresa May could have done with Alex McLeish's asssistance in getting us out of Europe quickly.

Early on-set dementia. Sadly been fairly obvious there's been something wrong with him for a couple of years, but have heard from more than one usually reliable source that it was diagnosed shortly before he was given the job. Regardless of opinion, objectively Alex Mcleish is a bona-fide legend of Scottish football, and the powers that be should be doing everything they can to look after him....instead they are absolutely chucking him under the bus with this job. It really doesn't sit well with me at all, although I'm not hugely surprised.

He's also a better LB than Graeme Shinnie.