INTERVIEW
Pace and tempo. Those are the key ingredients for East Kilbride’s new manager Brian Kerr as he bids to win them promotion from the Lowland League.
The former Albion Rovers manager, who runs sandwich shop ‘Kerrusts’ in Hamilton, will have plenty to sink his teeth into over the coming weeks as he builds towards the start of pre-season training on June 21.
He has been tasked with finding the elusive recipe for success that all four of Kilby’s previous managers fell short of in the bid to reach the Scottish Professional Football League.
And Kerr hopes to cook up a storm at K-Park with a sprinkling of his favourite combination.
One of the accusations levelled at Kilby during last season’s ill-fated title defence under Billy Stark was that they were ‘flat.’ They lacked the intensity that saw them romp to the title in 2015/16 under Martin Lauchlan and come agonisingly close to promotion via the play-offs.
Fitness, too, was questioned as they struggled against the Lowland League’s university sides, Stirling and Edinburgh.
That, ultimately, proved to be their downfall as they crashed to a shock defeat against Stirling on the final day of the season when a win would have won them the title.
Instead, Spartans claimed the league crown and left Kilby scratching their heads as to how it all went wrong.
With Billy Stark’s resignation on May 1 to take up a post at the Scottish Football Association, Kilby’s owners have now turned to Kerr, the former Newcastle and Motherwell midfielder, to end their stay in Scotland’s fifth tier.
So as the club’s fifth manager in five years outlines his vision, he is keen to emphasise how he plans to transform a team that fell short under a more experienced boss last term.
Asked what he will bring to the job, Kerr said: “There will certainly be attacking football. The expectation is on East Kilbride to go and win games and be up there challenging.
“Pace, tempo of passing and final third play is massive, certainly in the Lowland League.
“We’ve got to go and take the game to teams, so that’s what we’ll be trying to do, playing with a real freedom, a real pace and tempo that’s going to hurt teams.
“It’s vital that everyone is pulling in the right direction and we’ll put a real demand on the players to go and make it work.
“Sometimes when an expectation is there players think things will just happen for them, but it doesn’t.
“You’ve got to go and make it happen. It’s not going to be handed to you.
“When you are up there as one of the top teams, teams want to beat you and you become a target.
“Some of the so-called lower teams in the league will come up and put in a big performance against you, so it won’t be easy.
“The fitness, pace and tempo are things that really need to be stepped up to make things work.”
Despite his first step into management with assistant Stuart Malcolm ending in relegation for Rovers, the 36-year-old (right) has an impressive playing career to call upon, working under some big personalities. Kerr started his career at Newcastle under the tutelage of the late, great Bobby Robson. As a 21-year-old, he played against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League and started wins over Liverpool and Tottenham in the English Premier League alongside Tyneside legend Alan Shearer. But those magic moments with the Magpies were short-lived as loans spells, including two at Coventry, followed before his release from St James’ Park in 2004. Kerr, who won three caps for his country under Berti Vogts, returned to Scotland and enjoyed regular football under Terry Butcher at Motherwell and Inverness, as well as John Collins at Hibs. He played out the final years of his playing career at Dundee and Arbroath before hanging up his boots to coach Albion Rovers’ under-20s in 2016.
A season later he was handed the reigns at first team level when, ironically, Darren Young and Billy Stark were let go and Stark ended up at K-Park.
“I try to take the best out of everything I’ve experienced and add wee bit into my coaching as I go along,” Kerr admits.
“There’s not one person in particular who inspires me, but there’s certainly a lot to call upon.
“Over my career when I look at Bobby Robson’s man management skills or Terry Butcher’s...the way they got their teams up for games was unbelievable, second to none. Gary McAllister and Eric Black [at Coventry] were brilliant as well. Jocky Scott [at Dundee] was another who would get the best out of people.
“When I got to the part-time stuff at Arbroath, Paul Sheerin gave me the idea of balancing the enjoyment of training when boys are coming in after a 10-hour shift and then trying to do training.
“He was great at getting players geared up for what he wanted to achieve on a Saturday.
“John Collins, I absolutely loved what he tried to do. I think he was too far ahead of the game.
“Everybody turned their noses up when he came in and tried to do sports science and fitness stuff at a time when