ALEX McLeish refused to hide from Birmingham City fans, but he did duck questions about his future at Nottingham Forest.
The Scotsman rejected the chance to walk down a tunnel in favour of striding down the side of the pitch at St Andrews, as he made his first return since leaving the Blues and subsequently joining fierce rivals Aston Villa.
McLeish greeted the resulting abuse and jeers with a friendly wave. But, after the game, he did sidestep questions about his future.
"I was not going to walk down the tunnel. There was no chance of that happening. I was not going to sneak out next to the dug outs," said McLeish.
"If I did that, I would have to do it every game. I wanted to face the Birmingham fans and let them let off their steam, or whatever.
"Some had a go at the ginger hair. But we gingers will rule the world some day."
McLeish did offer a 'no comment' to every question about his future, with the manager still understood to be considering his position following a disappointing January transfer window that saw the club fail to make the three additions he had hoped for on deadline day.
Salt was rubbed into the wound when one of those targets, Birmingham winger Chris Burke, netted twice to help Birmingham to a 2-1 win.
"It was very unprofessional for us to surrender possession as cheaply as we did. That has to be down to slackness and carelessness," said McLeish.
"That was a blow, coming in at half time behind when we had not looked to be in any danger.
"Burky came back to haunt me. But we know he is a good player and capable of doing that."