Football the Jock Stein way carries on today in the modern game argues Andy Roxburgh,former Scottish national team coach and present technical director of Uefa.

Roxburgh, believes that an elite school of coaches has emerged who were mentored by Stein when he was national team manager from 1978 to 1985 and are earning Scottish football a new-found respectability.

As Alex McLeish, whom Stein gave an international debut as a player in 1980, prepares his squad for the climactic Euro 2008 qualifying match against Italy in Glasgow tomorrow, Roxburgh pointed to the common thread between the present Scotland coach and the men who have guided Celtic and Rangers to excellent Champions’ League campaigns this season.

“It is almost like the Scottish School. Alex, Gordon Strachan at Celtic and Walter Smith at Rangers have all come up from the same philosophy,” Roxburgh said.

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