Davies pulls out of Scots race
Tuesday, 15 Jan 2008 09:47
Billy Davies out of running to become next Scotland coach
Former
Derby County manager Billy Davies has declared himself out of the running for the vacant Scotland manager's job.
Davies, who has also managed Championship side Preston North End, was one of five men reportedly on the Scottish Football Association (SFA) shortlist to be interviewed for the post.
The job was vacated by Alex McLeish last year following a successful, but ultimately disappointing, Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in which the Scots lost their final match at home to Italy 2-1.
This ended any hopes of the team making it to the finals in Austria and Switzerland this summer, and McLeish promptly left the job to take up the reigns of English Premier League side
Birmingham City.
Motherwell manager Mark McGhee, Southampton boss George Burley, Celtic coach Tommy Burns and out-of-work Graeme Souness are believed to be the other four names on the SFA list.
But Davies has declared that he no longer wishes to be considered for the role.
"My representative got a call from the SFA to say I was on the shortlist, and then he took another call to say they wanted to speak to me about the job," the 43-year-old told the Scottish Daily Express.
"We were informed they wanted to get me involved in the process, and it was then that we told them we would not be taking things any further."
Davies' representative, Jim Price, confirmed his client is no longer interested in the post.
He said: "We had been told that Billy Davies was on the SFA shortlist for the manager's position - but that's as far as it had gone."