Former Scotland manager Craig Levein claims a football agent once threatened to shoot him in a dispute over a player.
Levein, 58, alleges the incident occurred when he was manager of Leicester City between 2004 and 2006.
Speaking on the latest BBC Radio Scotland Sacked in the Morning podcast, he says he was contacted by a Scottish agent about a player he was interested in recruiting for his team, which at the time played in the English Championship,
But the row soon escalated as the agent became “desperate”.
‘That’s a true story’
Levein, now in an advisory role at Brechin City, said: “I had a situation with an agent. He phoned me and he actually wasn’t the agent of the player – and this happens quite a lot – but he’d got wind that we were interested in this player, and I was at Leicester at the time.
“It was a Scottish guy – I won’t say his name – but he was claiming that he was the agent of the player and I knew he wasn’t so I said, ‘Look, I can’t deal with you because I know who his agent is’.
“Well, he threatened to shoot me. I was like ‘whoa, hold on a minute here’.
“That’s a true story. I knew the guy so it wasn’t so scary but I think he was getting kind of desperate and he came out and said that.
“Actually, I was killing myself laughing.”
Levein played for Cowdenbeath and Hearts and managed both clubs before being appointed boss of Leicester in October 2004.
He was sacked by the East Midlands club in January 2006.
Pushing boundaries
The former Scotland defender later managed Raith Rovers, Dundee United and the national team before returning to Hearts, and dealt with dozens of agents during that time.
Despite the threat, Levein insists players’ representatives had a “tough job” trying to get the best possible deals in contract negotiations with clubs.
He said: “There are some really good guys out there who do a brilliant job for their clients.
“You’ve got to remember of course, they are working for the player so they’re quite within their rights to push the boundaries a little bit and try and get a little bit more money or get an extra year’s contract.
“These are normal discussions and normal negotiations, it’s just that sometimes what you want and what the agent wants just doesn’t align.”
He added: “You get good ones and bad ones.
“I wouldn’t want to be an agent, I think it’s a tough job and the players leave you at the drop of a hat if they think there’s something better elsewhere.”
