Jim McLean, brilliant but ferocious manager of Dundee United – obituary
He steered the club to their first league title, but his reputation as a martinet meant that he was respected rather than liked
Jim McLean with the 1982/1983 Premier Division trophy
Credit: Northcliffe Collection
Jim McLean, who has died aged 83, managed Dundee United from 1971 until 1993, an era of remarkable success for the hitherto unheralded Scottish club during which the mercurial McLean steered the Tangerines to their first (and only) league title and to the brink of the European Cup Final.
McLean’s feats are not well remembered south of the border and in Scotland he was arguably outshone by his contemporary Alex Ferguson, then at Aberdeen and with whom McLean temporarily broke the dominance of the Old Firm, Celtic and Rangers.