Mackinnon to play on in the seventh tier
Darian Mackinnon wants to get stuck in to coaching at Hamilton Accies after penning a deal to play on in the seventh tier of Scottish football.
‘Daz’ admits he should never have left Accies for Partick Thistle in January and came close to retiring during lockdown.
However, he has now signed a one-year deal at West of Scotland League Conference C side Drumchapel.
Coaching at Accies’ Academy alongside Dougie Imrie and under George Cairns is where Mackinnon sees his future in the game, but concedes being a boss would be too cut-throat.
He said: “Coaching is massive for me. I didn’t really think about it earlier on, but George asked me to help Dougie out.
“At first I thought ‘I’m not sure about this’ but then you get the wee buzz, you start to get your own team and take it forward and you think ‘this is for me’.
“I’m good at mixing with players and putting sessions on, and that’s the bit that interests me the most.
“I want to get back in to Hamilton’s Academy.
“I spoke to George and I’m going in on Thursday to talk about our squad.
“At this point I wouldn’t want to be a manager, it’s quite cutthroat; you only get two chances in Scotland and you’re done.
“I don’t think you would say you wouldn’t take it if you were offered a job, but coaching is something I can see myself doing.”
Mackinnon says he was so disillusioned with football he had thought about hanging up his boots following a six-month stint at Partick Thistle.
Having spent eight years at Hamilton, Mackinnon moved on to Thistle in January, but it wasn’t a step that has worked out well for him.
“When I left Hamilton for
Partick it just wasn’t the same for me,” he said.
“I didn’t feel the buzz for it and I lost my appetite, so moving to Drumchapel has kick-started it for me.
“I was very close to retiring; at Thistle when I first went in and got started, we played against Celtic and Ayr, but I got a wee thigh strain and never really got back in. I was just thinking ‘I’ve had enough’.
“Hamilton was my life for seven or eight years, and I was coaching at the Academy, so my life was tied into that.
“I should just have stayed and seen out my contract, but you live and learn.”