Alex McLeish ready to trust his Birmingham City backroom staff

Nov 29 2007 By Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail

ROY Aitken and Andy Watson are men Alex McLeish can trust.

And they are top operators at their jobs, said the new Blues boss.

McLeish added that they have equal footing.

"They are two people I trust, they can relate to players, they have a sense of humour and their prowess on the training ground is vital," he said.

"The three of us have European Pro Licences and we have been in the game quite a long time.

"The most important element about taking your staff with you is the trust factor."

McLeish stressed: "They are both first-team coaches. There is not an assistant manager and a coach - they are both first-team coaches.

"They bring leadership as well and are people persons. I know that they will get close to the players and that the players will like them.

"The players will understand that they have boundaries but we will try to and make this a club where players want to come."

Aitken, aged 49, a former Celtic stalwart and Scottish international, managed Aberdeen between 1995-97 and assisted at Leeds United, Villa and Scotland.

Watson, aged 48, was a former team-mate of McLeish's at Aberdeen and has coached for him at all his clubs as well as Scotland.