Scotland want Birmingham's money

The Scottish Football Association could take legal action if Birmingham City do not up their offer of compensation after appointing Alex McLeish boss.

According to BBC Sport the SFA want £1million after losing their manager to Birmingham but they club have offered £600,000. McLeish was not given permission to talk to Birmingham by the SFA and resigned from hist position as Scotland manager.

SFA chief executive Gordon Smith was quoted in The Herald as saying: "We are in negotiations with Birmingham City. We do not want it to get messy but the fact is, we would rather still have our manager. It could yet go to legal recourse."

The newspaper also suggests the £400,000 difference between what the SFA apparently want and Birmingham's offer could cover the cost of the new Scotland manager's wages for a year - a comment that shows the vast difference between salaries on either side of the border.

While new England boss Fabio Capello will earn £6million-a-year - a small proportion of the FA's cash - the Scottish FA have nowhere near as much money to wave around at Europe's top managers.

But although it's easy to feel sympathy for the SFA, it should also be remembered that the £400,000 is quite a lot of cash relative to the transfer funds available to McLeish next month, if reports are to be believed.

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