EXCLUSIVE People wrote me off as a coach at 61 but I sit down for lunch with Jose Mourinho most days so I guess I’ve proved snipers wrong TEA-TIME SPECIAL 1

dinosaur thing. It’s not like I’ve joined just any club, it’s Man United, the biggest in the world.

“My ideas are fresh but people don’t know me deeply. I have few friends who know me well.

“My wife wasn’t happy when I took this job, right enough.

“She was happy for me to stay at home and mend the fence or do the hoovering. I was going to buy a new Dyson.”

The only thing Sbragia is sucking up is the methods of Mourinho and his coaching staf f at Carrington.

Still learning at 61, he’s welcome to observe first- team sessions, usual ly taken by Mourinho’s assistant Rui Faria.

He said: “Jose has been brilliant, really good. We all work in the same area and have a lot of contact.

“We dine together mos t d a y s at Carrington. They let us get on with it. Even at my age, I’m still picking things up.

“I watched the first-team train recently when Rui took the session. I managed to take a few things away from it.

“I wrote some stuff down and brought it into the U23’s training. It was fantastic, really different.

“Stuff like that is invaluable and Jose allows us to go over anytime we want.

“It’s all open to us. We chat regularly and Jose l ikes the Scots anyway.”

Mourinho earned his badges on an SFA course at the start of his coaching career.

But when Sbragia left Hampden last September it looked from the outside like it might be the end of his.

He never managed to take a Scotland youth side to a major finals but he’s proud of his part in the development of players who were on the park against Holland at Pittodrie on Thursday night. And throughout his tenure in Mount Florida it gnawed at him that the job just wasn’t right for him.

He said: “I thought I did quite well in terms of bringing on players with the SFA. May b e results weren’t great latterly with the U21s.

“But boys like John McGinn, Cal lum Pat er son, Ryan Ch r i s t i e , Joh n Souttar, Ryan Fraser, are all in or around the full squad. That’s an abundance of players.

“I took the job because I thought it would be dif ferent. But it became more of a scouting and recruitment role.

“Deep down, I’ve always just been a coach. And in my mind I was drifting away from that.

“I wasn’t coaching daily and you lose a little bit. You’re only doing it in patches.

“I actually went around a few clubs off my own back to do a bit. I went into St Mirren and Kilmarnock. I enjoyed it and it got me going again.

“I even went to Antalya with Hibs and coached with them over in Turkey.

“I was asking myself: ‘ What am I?’ The answer is a coach. That’s what I am, it’s what I’m good at.

“I’ve been a coach now for 31 years and a player for 14 years.

“That’s 45 years in the game, a long t ime for a lad f rom Castlemilk.”

Sbragia could now get his wish of finishing up at Old Trafford in a few years’ time.

And you get the feeling he’s going to savour every minute.

He sa id : “From what I remember, the club has just grown. Everything is bigger. There are more staff but a few of the old ones are still there.

“In my first three weeks I just kept meeting different people.

“You think you’ve seen everyone but there are analysts, player care people, everything. That’s how football is going.

“But we all work together. I had no doubts about going back because I knew I could do it.

“It was a dream first time around but when I left I thought I’d never go back.

“Since I’ve been back though it has been a breath of fresh air. Everything I expected has been delivered.

“I try to help the younger coaches now, give out lots of information and knowledge that I’ve picked up.

“The knowledge I have, I pass it on. My wife says I’m too open but I do it for the right reasons. “I’ve always been that way. “Why do I want to be selfish and keep al l the knowledge and experience I’ve picked up in the game to myself?” U16 and U17 level. I’m not sure what he’s thinking in terms of playing for Scotland or England.

“He’s just so focused on trying to get into the Man United first-team.

“And if he gets there he’d be good enough for any nation, including England. He has so much ability.

“There has been contact from Scotland but I don’t know if we have a chance.”

When Sbragia f i rst clapped eyes on midfielder McTominay the kid lacked a bit of physique.

He recalled: “Scott was 4ft 11ins, small and meek – like a wee bean.

“We all had to be careful with his development.

“But he’s 6ft 4ins now and towering above me.

“He has a good work ethic, a presence and good awareness on the ball. He also likes to put his foot in.

“He can go right to the top, no doubt about it. And it’s credit to the club because they’ve nursed him.

“At 15 or 16 he hardly played any games. They were so protective of him because of this growth spurt.”