New Crystal Palace boss George Burley has heaped praise on the work of Alex McLeish at Birmingham City.
Burley believes McLeish is now as highly rated as a manager in England as he already was in Scotland following his time at Motherwell, Hibernian and Rangers.
"I think Alex is proving himself as a manager in England," said Burley, who played alongside McLeish for Scotland.
"He's just had a fantastic season. That second season was always going to be tough but he took them back up and has showed what a top manager he is.
"Alex has done brilliantly. Nobody could envisage Birmingham doing so well in the Premier League during their first season back after being in the Championship.
"They really established themselves back as a Premier League team and weren't that far away from qualifying for Europe."