Tomorrow
went through my way up.
“I took a team, I took many teams for years and years, worked my way up, and then I managed the academy along with Frankie Mcavoy.
“When Frankie moved to Norwich with the then manager, Alex Neil, I was offered the head of youth job.
“I’ve come from nothing to be head of youth – that’s why I always tell my coaches there’s always something there for you.
“I’ve been there, to aspire yourself to try and make yourself better and see if you’ve got something to offer.
“Alan was in a system here until under15s, so he would have been here for five years. He left to go to Motherwell, then to Alloa. He’s 22 now and plays Junior football for Irvine Meadow, so he’s still in the game, which is great.
“That’s the important part of the process of kids. Some kids don’t stay in the game, we lose a the courses and worked lot of kids. I think the average is about 65 to 75 per cent, between 16s and 17s, that don’t get full-time contracts. That’s a high percentage of kids that are lost to football.
“The good thing is trying to keep people involved in football. We have players like Lee Kilday who did well for us at youth level, played a lot of 20s and made a lot of first-team appearances as well, but he has now moved on and is club captain at Morton. I speak to him on a regular basis, and he’s doing really well.
“We have a lot of players that maybe didn’t quite make it here but that doesn’t mean to say they’re not able to earn a living elsewhere. We have young Andy Ryan, who went to Airdrie and is now at Dunfermline, so we have a lot of players who have been in the academy who are still playing.
“We have Brian Mcqueen at Clyde, Grant Evans is playing Junior. These guys all still play football, which is great. You’re trying to keep these guys in the game for as long as possible.”
I took teams for years and years and worked my way up