GUS KING OF QUEEN’S
Gus: Keeping Spiders in League One greater achievement than winning the Cup with Killie
Managing Queen’s Park is supposed to be a part-time gig. Try telling that to Gus MacPherson’s missus though.
The truth is she probably sees less of him than his squad of so- called amateur players.
It’s a Wednesday afternoon and the rain is lashing off the Spiders’ new Lesser Hampden pavilion.
They have a game at night against Motherwell’s Under-20s in the Irn-Bru Cup so MacPherson should probably be at home, taking advantage of the free time a matchday has to offer.
Instead he’s in the office making calls, sending emails and watching matches on DVD, devoting every spare hour to either scouting opposition, poring over youth-team matches or trying to get new players in.
The job description might say parttime but MacPherson’s desire to make the League One club the best it can be ensures it is anything but.
With no wages to offer it’s a constant struggle getting bodies through the door. Indeed, the majority of players he does have hold down day jobs.
When MacPherson has to contend with an absence it’s not always a calf or hamstring strain. One guy missed training because he fancied going to Celtic Park as a punter.
And his own son Ewan had to cancel a summer holiday after he’d booked it during the club’s pre-season schedule. It’s fair to say the striker’s old man helped influence his decision.
All of these factors make it the toughest job he has ever had in football with the challenge at Lesser Hampden unlike anything he has experienced. That’s why it is so satisfying. In his second year in charge he got them promoted to League One via the play-offs against all odds.
And MacPherson ranks last term’s sixth- place f inish as the greatest achievement of his career bar none – which isn’t bad for a guy who won a Scottish Cup with Kilmarnock in 1997.
He said: “At times this is the hardest job I’ve had in football. This is completely different to managing St Mirren, for example.
“Listen, I can only bring players in here that actually want to play for us. I can’t go and cherry-pick.
“The list of players I have who I’ve spoken to managers about in the last three years is endless. But if our circumstances don’t suit the player or vice versa it’s not for us. That’s why I can’t credit our players enough. They put on that jersey for the right reasons – it’s because they want to do it.
“A huge part of my job now is just watching games. I’m constantly at development matches during the week. I’m in touch with a network of contacts I try to tap into.
“We’re eternally grateful to clubs who see Queen’s Park as a good place for their young players to develop.
“I suppose every manager has the same problem but the circumstances are different here.
“My commitment is the same as it has been in any job. It might be part-time but in terms of the hours I put in it’s full-time.
“In pre-season we trained Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and double sessions on Saturday – that’s a full-time club.
“My boy booked a holiday over the summer and it clashed with our
schedule. That’s the kind of thing you have to deal with. Thankfully he cancelled it.”
Outside of the Lesser Hampden social club, the job MacPherson has done will go largely unnoticed. And whenever he gets the chance to blow his own trumpet it’s done reluctantly.
But MacPherson won’t change who he is purely for plaudits.
He said: “Walter Smith told me once I didn’t talk myself up enough. I didn’t talk up the job we were doing at St Mirren, for example.
“But that’s just not my style – it’s not in my personality. I always hope people realise the job I’m doing.
“When I took over Queen’s Park we were bottom of League Two through no fault of anyone here.
“The following season we got up and the biggest achievement was last season staying in League One. That
was remarkable to finish sixth. With three games left we were in the play-off position to go into the Championship.
“It’s up there with anything I’ve done in my career as a player or a manager.
“I got a text from someone within the game who said it was my greatest achievement in the game. He was putting it above winning a Scottish Cup with Kilmarnock. People who know the game understand why.
“A lot of people at the top won’t recognise it. Someone called League One and League Two community football but it’s not – it’s competitive.
“I know how to build a team and what is required to win games.
“I’m realistic about things and realism in football nowadays is in very short supply. There are plenty of self-publicists out there.
“If I take out the six months I had at Queen of the South I believe my CV is up there with anyone in Scotland in the last few years – in relative terms, of course. At St Mirren I assembled a good team of young players – the likes of Charlie Adam, John Sutton, David van Zanten, Simon Lappin and Kirk Broadfoot – with a few experienced ones guiding them.
“It’s similar to what we’re tr ying to put together at Queen’s Park.”
With the experience he has, MacPherson would be an asset to any Scottish club. But he’s loyal and that’s why – despite interest from bigger SPFL outfits – he’s still with the Spiders after more than three-and-a-half years. He said: “The job is definitely getting harder and I could have left – but I enjoy it. It’s not to say I’m not ambitious because I am. I f an opportunity comes along I’d look at it. But timing has been a factor in terms of offers elsewhere and I’ve always shown loyalty.
“There was one key moment recently when a club wanted to speak and I wouldn’t do it. They appointed someone else.
“That was loyalty on my part and I don’t regret it. You can only go where someone wants you.
“People say it’s a young man’s game – well I’m only 48. I think people have me down for late 50s – I had a tough paper round. But I was in control of St
Mirren when I was 32, 33 – that was a great learning curve. I couldn’t have done this job 10 years ago.
“I’ve learnt more about management here. I’m more respectful to players because I realise what they’re sacrificing to play for Queen’s Park.
“Someone can pick up a phone and tell me they can’t make a game – I understand it. I’m better prepared now than when I was at St Mirren.
“There’s no pressure on the players here. With no wages it’s all about personal pride. People are watching you out there on a Saturday, including your family. In any profession you want to feel good about yourself.
“And anyone connected to Queen’s Park in the last few years have felt good about themselves because they achieved something.
“They should remember that for the rest of their lives.”
The job might be part-time but in terms of the hours I put in it’s full-time