Scotland: Bobby Williamson asserts himself as Scotland head coach

“I’m not going to excite the Tartan Army, I know that for a fact, but maybe these future international coaches are going to be moving towards it, it might excite them because of what they’ve achieved with Scotland and their clubs.”

Former Rangers, West Bromwich Albion, Rotherham United and Kilmarnock striker Williamson has been out of football management for 10 years.

However, from his home in Africa, his mind raced as he read reports of Steve Clarke’s resignation as national head coach.

“I’d been out of the game for a while, but I was looking at the newspaper reports about who got the job and I thought my CV stacked up pretty well,” he said.

“I managed two national teams here in Africa. In Uganda, we got 60,000 at every home game – very passionate fans – and I handled that pressure just fine.

“I know the emotion of the Scottish fans well and they don’t want to be disappointed and I thought ‘Can I give it a go?’.”

Williamson was McCoist’s team-mate at Rangers, while Brown and Thomson were young midfielders when he managed Hibs.

“So my first text message was to Alastair McCoist and I said I was thinking about doing it and he said ‘I am’,” he revealed.

“So I started thinking ‘Who else?’ And I’m thinking long-term for the benefit of Scotland – bring in some young coaches so they get international experience.

“Those two guys – Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson – have played countless games for Scotland, they’ve played at the top level.

“They certainly have that knowledge, but they haven’t really experienced the coaching side of the game at that level and I thought, if I can help these guys, it will give Scotland options down the line and maybe give some consistency.”

As a manager, Williamson led Kilmarnock to Scottish Cup glory in 1997, led Plymouth Argyle to the Championship, won the 2011 CECAFA Cup regional tournament with Uganda and won the Kenyan league title with Gor Mahia.

Williamson, though, admits “it’s a big if” as he puts himself forward as a potential Scotland head coach.

“They probably have the wheels in motion and have identified candidates anyway,” he added.