Neil Doherty McCann (born 11 August 1974) is a Scottish

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

, pundit and former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

who played as a

left winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. His most recent role in football was a stint as the caretaker manager of

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

. His playing career saw him represent

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

(two spells), Heart of Midlothian (two spells), Rangers,

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

. He also played 26 times for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

in full international matches. After working as a pundit for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

he was appointed manager of

in 2017 before being sacked in October 2018.

Club career

McCann started his career with

before moving on to Heart of Midlothian in 1996. He helped the Tynecastle side win the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers later that year for £1.9 million, becoming the club's first major Scottish Catholic signing since

Mo Johnston Maurice John Giblin Johnston (born 13 April 1963) is a Scottish football player and coach. Johnston, who played as a forward, started his senior football career with Partick Thistle in 1981. He moved to Watford in 1983, where he scored 23 leag ...

. He scored two goals in a 3–0 win for Rangers against their arch-rivals

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

on 2 May 1999, which clinched the

1998–99 Scottish Premier League The 1998–99 Scottish Premier League season (also known as the 1998–99 Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier League for sponsorship reasons from 11 March) was the inaugural season of Scottish Premier League football, the top division of Scottish f ...

title. McCann left Rangers in 2003, as the club were forced to sell him due to financial problems. Speaking in February 2019, McCann said that he had been subject to sectarian abuse from Celtic fans that stemmed from his decision to sign for Rangers. He joined

on 5 August 2003, for £1.5 million. A series of injuries made it difficult for him to maintain his place in the team. McCann scored one goal for Southampton, in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

tie against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. His contract with Southampton was terminated by mutual consent in January 2006. On 17 January 2006, McCann rejoined Hearts. He sustained a medial knee ligament injury while playing in his first match after returning to Hearts, which meant that he missed the rest of the 2005–06 season (including the 2006 Scottish Cup Final). McCann played in 28 games during the 2006–07 season, but then suffered a double leg break during a game at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

on 25 August 2007. On 14 May 2008 it was announced that McCann had signed for

. He scored on his Falkirk debut, against former club Hearts, and then scored in League Cup ties against Queen of the South and

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

. His last appearance for Falkirk was in the

2009 Scottish Cup Final The 2009 Scottish Cup Final was the final of the 124th season of the main domestic football cup competition in Scotland, the Scottish Cup. The final was played at Hampden Park in Glasgow on 30 May 2009. The match was contested by Rangers, who we ...

. McCann was released on 22 August 2009 after managerial changes at Falkirk, with outgoing manager John Hughes (footballer born 1964), John Hughes (the manager that signed him) being replaced by Eddie May (Scottish footballer), Eddie May. On 12 February 2011, McCann came out of retirement to help Dundee stave-off relegation from the Scottish Football League First Division, First Division. He scored a last minute goal in his first appearance, against Raith Rovers. McCann was inducted into the Dundee FC Hall of Fame in 2016.

International career

McCann made his full international debut for Scotland on 5 September 1998, coming on as a late substitute for Ally McCoist in a goalless draw against Lithuania national football team, Lithuania. His first appearance in the starting line-up was on 31 March 1999 in a 2–1 home defeat to the Czech Republic national football team, Czech Republic. McCann scored three goals for Scotland, including two in UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying matches against the Faroe Islands national football team, Faroe Islands and Germany national football team, Germany. He made 26 appearances for Scotland, with his last coming in a 1–1 draw with the United States men's national soccer team, United States in November 2005.

Coaching career

Dunfermline

McCann joined Dunfermline Athletic F.C., Dunfermline Athletic as a coach in July 2012, initially on a voluntary basis. The club entered administration (British football), administration in March 2013 and suffered a second successive relegation. When Dunfermline exited administration in December 2013, manager Jim Jefferies (footballer), Jim Jefferies and McCann were both offered new contracts. Jefferies retired early in December 2014, leaving McCann and John Potter (footballer), John Potter in charge of the team. On 30 April 2015, McCann decided to leave Dunfermline.

Dundee manager

McCann's first managerial position came at Scottish Premiership side

, where he was appointed on an interim basis on 18 April 2017. McCann oversaw five matches for his former team, securing the side's place in the top tier of Scottish football. Dundee announced on 29 May that McCann would leave the club, then had an approach for Jack Ross (footballer, born 1976), Jack Ross rejected by St Mirren F.C., St Mirren. On 1 June, McCann was appointed Dundee manager on a permanent basis. He was sacked by the club on 16 October 2018, with Dundee bottom of the 2018–19 Scottish Premiership after collecting just three points from eight games.

Inverness caretaker

After John Robertson (footballer, born 1964), John Robertson was given compassionate leave in February 2021, McCann was appointed caretaker manager of Scottish Championship club

. McCann left this position after the 2020–21 season was completed, with Robertson returning in a sporting director role and a new manager to be appointed. Inverness chief executive Scot Gardiner said in May 2021 that the arrangement with McCann had always been intended to be temporary, but that he had tried to persuade McCann to stay in the position longer.

Media work

McCann became a pundit (expert), pundit for

, providing analysis on their coverage of football in Scotland, after he left

in 2009. McCann left Sky in June 2017, when he was appointed

manager on a permanent basis. He now works for Sky Sports, BBC Scotland, BBC and RangersTV as a pundit.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McCann goal''.

Manager

:Interim manager from 18 April until 29 May 2017.

Honours

Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Profile
at londonhearts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Neil 1974 births Living people Footballers from Greenock Association football midfielders Scottish footballers Scotland B international footballers Scotland international footballers Dundee F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players Premier League players Scotland under-21 international footballers Dundee F.C. managers Scottish football managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Dunfermline Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Roman Catholics