OUR LABOUR OF LOVE
IRN-BRU CUP FINAL James: Buddies won’t down tools – I know how lucky footballers are after ending up on a building site ONE DAY TO GO
JAMeS FOWLer won’t tolerate any St Mirren players downing tools after finding out how hard it is to make ends meet in the real world.
Tomorrow he’ll be on the touchline at Fir Park as the Buddies attempt to beat Dundee United in the Irn-Bru Cup Final. But earlier this season the Saints assistant boss experienced backbreaking work on a building site.
He had never known anything but football from the minute he turned pro with Kilmarnock in 1996 until losing his job as Queen of the South manager last April.
A brief playing comeback with League Two Stirling amounted to six minutes as a sub – and that led to his spell as a labourer.
Fortunately, Saints boss Jack Ross appointed him No.2 in October, putting an end to his days of hard, physical graft – and he has been unable to keep the grin off his face ever since.
Fowler said: “We’ve got a mood chart on the wall of the office. One of the directors brought it in. It goes from -9 to +9 and I’m usually about +4, which means appreciative.
“You say where you are in the morning then look at how the group can affect that mood. It’s a good bit of banter. It’s not such a serious thing but your emotions can go up and down, especially on the coaching staff.
“It’s all about picking each other up and being honest about where you are. Sometimes you can hide things and it’s good that we support each other as a staff and do that with the players too.
“When you find yourself out of the game you think you’ll come straight back into it but when you’re out for a while you start to doubt yourself and wonder if you’re going to get back.
“I was labouring for three weeks which was a real eye-opener. It was at Renfrew, quite close to here.
“Somebody I knew from my playing days at Kilmarnock has a building company. I was going demented stuck in the house and didn’t have any income so it was time to get out there.
“After that first day I was falling asleep in the car on the way home after a real hard day’s shift and thinking, ‘I can’t go back there tomorrow.’
“It was quite like a football dressing room in that there was a lot of banter flying about. But it wasn’t something I was looking to do long-term.
“It was filling a gap and getting some money in. I was always confident that something would come up because I felt I did a decent job at Queens.
“I was fortunate Jack decided to bring
EWING GRAHAME I was going demented and didn’t have any income so it was time to get out there JAMES FOWLER
me in and it has been a great last two months in terms of results.”
The Saints youth team are now also about to find out what it’s like to get their hands dirty. Fowler added: “There’s no doubt it makes you appreciate it when you’re back in the mix and things like cup finals make it extra special as well.
“I spoke to Allan McManus, our head of youth, and he’s desperate to get the boys down for a day on the building site to let them see what a real job is like.
“I had been in football since I left school and you do take things for granted – it is an easy life.” WILLO FLOOD has called on dithering Dundee United to get a grip – and kickstart their season by securing silverware this weekend.
Ray McKinnon’s side will try to get back to winning ways in the Irn-Bru Cup Final against Championship strugglers St Mirren.
And midfielder Flood said: “We have to front up. It has just not been good enough.
“We’re a bit weak if I’m being honest. There’s just a frailty about us. We need to get this club going again.
“It has to be down to the senior boys to regroup. That’s what we need to show in this game.
“I’m feeling it more than most. It’s probably the lowest point of my career so far. It’s mentally draining but what can you do?
“We know what to expect from St Mirren. They’re a big side, will be dangerous from set-pieces and they have some good players.
“John Sutton’s a handful up top and they have a lot of youth in the team. We need to go there and get going.”