‘IT’S A YOUNG MAN’S GAME. THE DAYS OF THE DINOSAUR MANAGERS ARE OVER...’
Meet Rhys McCabe — British football’s youngest boss at the tender age of 29
AGE is no barrier to success for Rhys McCabe. He proved that emphatically just over ten years ago when, as a 19-year-old, he bossed the midfield in an Old Firm match.
The best player on the pitch as Rangers beat Celtic 3-2 at Ibrox, a teenage McCabe sprayed the ball around with class and composure, displaying a maturity far beyond his years.
Fast-forward to 2022 and he will celebrate his 30th birthday tomorrow, a nice landmark for a man who is now the youngest manager in British football.
Having taken charge of Airdrieonians earlier this summer, McCabe will operate as playermanager for the League One side.
Confident and articulate in explaining his vision for the club, he says: ‘The way football is going now, it’s becoming a young man’s game. The days of the dinosaur managers who just sit back and let their assistant and coaches do all the work are over.
‘I’ve seen it and I certainly wouldn’t talk anyone down. It’s a style that has worked in the past, but I firmly believe that football is changing.
‘You see it a lot in Scotland. The amount of managers you see who float around from club to club. It’s a merry-go-round. All the same faces come up when a job is available.
‘I’m confident that we can go a different route and change the perception around that. Ultimately, it’s about believing in yourself.’
McCabe was a key player for Airdrie last season, with the club narrowly losing out in the play-offs under previous boss Ian Murray.
When Murray moved on to Raith Rovers, the seed had already been planted as to how Airdrie would move forward.
‘When I signed last year, I floated the idea past them just in a casual sense about maybe getting involved in the coaching side of things,’ says McCabe.
‘The club have been brilliant with me. Once Ian Murray left, the conversation was put to me about how I’d feel taking it on.
‘The club asked me if I’d be interested. It came around quite quickly but, at 29, how many people get the chance to coach and have that backing and trust from a club’?
McCabe (in action for Airdrie, right) is a football purist. In keeping with his style as a player, he wants his team to get the ball down and show vision, bravery and imagination.
If he ever coaches in the top flight, he would hate for his team to fill the graveyard slot on Sportscene, when last on the bill is usually reserved for a 0-0 snoozefest.
‘I’m a massive football fan in general,’ he says. ‘If I get a Sunday off, I’ll watch Super Sunday on Sky Sports. Even if it’s three or four games that are on, I’ll sit and watch them all.
‘I love watching good football. There’s nothing worse than watching a game, you end up bored, and you switch it off at half-time. ‘I’m passionate about it. I want my team to be good to watch and to play an exciting and attacking brand of football.’ St Mirren have already fallen victim, with the Premiership side losing 2-0 to McCabe’s side in Tuesday night’s Premier Sports Cup clash. Airdrie’s goalscorers were 18-year-old Justin Devenny and 16-year-old Kyan Gunn. Developing young talent will be a part of the McCabe masterplan. ‘It’s all about having trust and belief in each other,’ he adds. ‘The biggest compliment I can give them is that, with all due respect, we passed St Mirren off the park. We brought on two 16-year-olds and one of them ended up scoring. That’s what I want to see — young players with a desire and hunger to make an impact.’
McCabe might well be a purist in terms of how the game should be played, but he knows there is room for pragmatism, too.
Today’s trip to Arbroath offers a perfect case in point. A victory will see Airdrie top the group and advance to the last 16 of the Premier Sports Cup.
It also represents an intriguing battle between two men at opposite ends of the managerial spectrum; Dick Campbell, the oldest in all of the SPFL at 68, and McCabe, the youngest in Britain. ‘I wouldn’t be naive enough to go into management and think we’re just going to play the exact same way in every single game,’ says McCabe. ‘It just doesn’t work like that. ‘You don’t go up to Arbroath when it’s blowing a gale and then try to play freeflowing silky football. I’m not naive enough to even consider that. I realise that you have to be adaptable.
‘But there will be a blueprint and a style in terms of how we play. You can adapt and tweak the system at times. But the core ideas and principles should not ever really change.
‘I’ve got nothing but absolute respect for Dick Campbell and what he’s done in the game.
‘You only need to look at last season and how they narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premiership.’
McCabe is meticulous in how he prepares the team. Alongside Callum Fordyce, who is his cousin, assistant and also a defender for Airdrie, training sessions are planned well in advance.
McCabe senses a changing of the guard. He wants to help change perceptions in Scottish football and show that young coaches have what it takes to succeed.
‘I’m a wee bit obsessive in terms of how I prepare for stuff,’ he says. ‘But I firmly believe that
small margins can make a big difference.
‘Football is becoming more and more professional. If you’re not looking after yourself and not preparing properly, you will get found out.
‘There will probably be people who want us to fail because they see it as quite a left-field move for a club to appoint someone so young.
‘It’s a little bit out the box and a different direction that the club have chosen.
‘We just need to focus on ourselves and give ourselves the best possible chance of succeeding.
‘We’re youthful, full of energy and enthusiastic. The way football is going now, it’s becoming a young man’s game.
‘You see it at a lot of the top clubs. I think the days of having a manager who doesn’t really do much on the training pitch or doesn’t get involved in the coaching side are long gone.
‘You need to be quite hands-on, give your players a clear idea of how you want them to play, and build relationships with them.
‘The last thing you would ever want is for one of your players to wake up in the morning and dread coming into training. Players need to enjoy it and feel valued.’
Promotion is the aim for Airdrie this season in what promises to be a highly-competitive battle in League One alongside Falkirk, Dunfermline and Kelty Hearts.
For McCabe, the new season represents a chance to vindicate his own methods, but also the club’s decision to hand him the job in the first place.
‘We want to do well and get promoted if we can. But, in the bigger picture, I want to build a team with a clear identity. That’s what good managers do.
‘They have a clear style in terms of how they do things. Whether you’re 29 or 59, age is secondary. I believe it’s the substance of what you’re doing that matters most.’