William James Alexander McKinlay (born 22 April 1969) is a Scottish football manager and former professional footballer who is assistant manager of West Ham United. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, Bradford City and Fulham. He also played in the Scottish Premiership for Dundee United, the Football League for Preston North End and the Scottish Football League for Clydebank. McKinlay appeared 29 times for Scotland and played at Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup. As a coach, he has worked for Fulham, the Northern Ireland national team and Watford. He was appointed Watford head coach in September 2014 but left the post after eight days. After a spell as assistant head coach with Real Sociedad in Spain, he joined Norwegian club Stabæk in November 2015, before being sacked in July 2016. He has since worked at Sunderland and Stoke City is currently the assistant manager of West Ham United. Club career A product of Dundee United's scouting and coaching network in the west of Scotland, Glasgow-born McKinlay was signed from Hamilton Thistle in 1986. He played in the 1988 Scottish Cup Final side at the age of 19, after only twelve Scottish Football League appearances. He went on to play over two hundred matches for United, but missed out on the club's 1994 Scottish Cup win due to suspension. Following Dundee United's relegation in 1995, McKinlay requested a transfer. He was sold to English Premier League champions Blackburn Rovers in October 1995 for a fee of £1.75 million. After leaving Blackburn in 2000, McKinlay had brief spells with Bradford City, Preston North End and Clydebank. In 2002, he joined Leicester City, scoring his only goal for them against Coventry City. In 2004, Fulham manager Chris Coleman signed McKinlay, primarily to assist the reserve squad. International career McKinlay represented Scotland at under-21 and B international level before making his full debut in 1993. He made 14 appearances for Scotland while with Dundee United, the last two as a First Division player. He is one of only three players from that division to play at full international level for Scotland since 1975. In total he played 29 times for Scotland between 1993 and 1998, scoring four goals. He was selected for the Euro 1996 and 1998 World Cup squads, making one appearance at each tournament. Coaching career Fulham