McLeish started his managerial career with spells at Motherwell and Hibernian, before guiding Rangers to two championships and five cup wins in five years.

McLeish spent ten months as manager of the Scotland national team which narrowly failed to qualify for the finals of the 2008 UEFA European championship.

McLeish was appointed manager of Championship club Nottingham Forest in December 2012, but left after 40 days by mutual consent.

After living in the Parkhead and Kinning Park districts of the city, the family moved to Barrhead, Renfrewshire soon after McLeish had reached school age.

[7] As a juvenile he played for Barrhead Youth Club, alongside Weir, and Glasgow United as well as training for a short period with Hamilton Accies.

After a local cup final with Glasgow United in 1976 which was watched by a delegation from Aberdeen, including then manager Ally MacLeod, McLeish signed for the Pittodrie club the following day.

[7] McLeish spent the majority of his first two seasons at Aberdeen in the reserves and also had a loan spell at local Junior side Lewis United.

[8] However McLeish eventually made the centre-back position his own, and over the next seven seasons he enjoyed great success, winning eight domestic and two European trophies.

[12] Even after he had won his first Scotland cap, McLeish's father asked then Aberdeen boss Alex Ferguson to persuade him to continue training as an accountant.

His full international debut came on 26 March 1980 against Portugal, manager Jock Stein playing him in midfield alongside Archie Gemmill and Graeme Souness.

[25] McLeish was consequently put under pressure from fans after his poor signings and a record run of seven consecutive Old Firm derby losses to Celtic.

[26] The high-profile Bosman signings of Jean-Alain Boumsong and Dado Pršo in the close season of 2004–05 gave Rangers renewed hope of regaining the title from Celtic's grasp.

[27] McLeish's team won the 2005 league title on a dramatic last day, an outcome that had looked highly unlikely after Rangers fell five points behind leaders Celtic with just four games remaining.

After a reasonable start to the season, including a win over Celtic,[29] Rangers suffered a series of poor results between September and November.

However the tenth match of this run, a 1–1 draw with Inter Milan in the Champions League, took Rangers into the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time.

This run of good results came to a sudden halt when they were defeated 3–0 by Hibernian in the Scottish Cup,[33] prompting protests outside Ibrox against both McLeish and David Murray.

McLeish's first game in charge of the national team was a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match, a 2–1 victory against Georgia on 24 March 2007 at Hampden Park.

Premier League club Birmingham City's approach to the SFA for permission to speak to McLeish about their managerial vacancy was refused,[45] but on his return on 27 November 2007 from attending the draw for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification in South Africa, he resigned his post as manager of Scotland[46] and was announced as Birmingham's new manager the following day.

[48] In the January 2008 transfer window, McLeish strengthened Birmingham's squad, buying David Murphy and James McFadden and signing Argentina under-20 international Mauro Zárate on loan, while generating funds by allowing fringe players to leave.

[51] On the final day of the 2008–09 season, McLeish secured Birmingham's return to the top flight of English football at the first attempt with a 2–1 away victory over Reading.

[57] In February 2011, McLeish led Birmingham to victory in the League Cup, defeating favourites Arsenal 2–1 in the final at Wembley in what he described as "relatively speaking, ... [his] greatest achievement".

McLeish's side secured a surprise win over Chelsea just before signing LA Galaxy striker Robbie Keane on loan.

McLeish led the 2011–12 Villa team to 16th place in the Premier League, avoiding relegation by two points, and set an unwanted club record of only four home wins.

[73] His first game in charge was on 29 December 2012, a 2–2 draw against Crystal Palace at the City Ground, with Billy Sharp scoring an injury-time equaliser for Nottingham Forest.

[76] On 2 February 2013, after a 2–1 defeat to former club Birmingham City on his first return to St Andrew's, he refused to commit his future to Nottingham Forest and claimed he was unhappy.

This came after the Nottingham Forest board pulled out of a deal to sign George Boyd on the final day of the January transfer window.

[87] McLeish had a cameo appearance in the Laurel and Hardy biopic Stan & Ollie, after a chance meeting with director and Aberdeen FC fan Jon S. Baird on a flight.