SPIN AT THE DEEP END

Wilson isn’t fazed after trial by fire in first gig at Airdrie

He’d played in the Champions League and scored an Old Firm winner when he was at Celtic.

So Mark Wilson isn’t easily fazed. But at 33, standing up in Cliftonhill’s away dressing- room to deliver a gaffer’s team-talk? That shredded his nerves like never before.

Despite a stellar playing career, it wasn’t always plain sailing for Wilson.

His career was curtailed by injury problems so he’s not unfamiliar with the sport’s stresses and strains.

But they say nothing can prepare you for management. And he was living proof of that when thrust into his first job at Airdrie last season.

When Wilson was forced to retire as a player in 2015, he was always going to coach. Being back on a training pitch, working with players, appeared to be the natural step.

But what he wasn’t ready for at the Excelsior Stadium was everything else that comes with being a boss.

Before that f irst game against Albion Rovers, he was dictating to players who were older than him.

With turbulence at boardroom level, there were daily issues over players’ wages and contracts.

He was asked to give assurances over their livelihoods and felt troubled when he couldn’t give them answers.

Wilson immersed himself in the job, to a point where it was affecting him away from the club. He wasn’t ready for that side of it and, ultimately, it was why he stepped away.

Now he’s waiting for an opportunity to get back in.

But Wilson accepts he probably has to cut his teeth as a coach first before going into the lion’s den again.

He told MailSport : “I found it difficult at Airdrie, it was hard for me.

“Gordon Dalziel offered me a great opportunity to go there as coach but the team weren’t doing so well and the club was constantly in turmoil.

“I jumped at the chance and it was a brilliant experience.

“But behind the scenes the club was being pulled in so many different directions. I didn’t have to deal with a lot of it but what happens upstairs has an impact on the dressing-room.

“Players were asking questions about money and contracts and I couldn’t give them answers.

“Standing in a dressing-room as a manager, talking to players – it was a nerve-wracking experience.

“I was only 32 and some guys, like Iain Russell, were older than me.

“My first game was Albion Rovers away – a derby. Did I have the players’ immediate respect?

“With some of them, yes. But you just get a feeling. A few had question marks over me. I was still young and they probably wondered: ‘ Why has this guy got the gig?’”

The nuances of management took a bit of getting used to.

For instance, when players are warming up before a match, what is a manager supposed to do?

And the obsessive nature of the job soon started to take its toll.

Wilson said: “I found that spell during the warm-up strange. I didn’t know what to do with myself because normally I’d be out there. I was lost.

“On the touchline I was fine. It was almost like playing at the back, seeing the game in front of me and I could shout instructions.

“We did OK overall. I got Manager of the Month in my first few weeks.

“We were going for Airdrie’s record run of wins – then got humped 5- 0 at home by Stenhousemuir.

“We’d go a few games when we’d play well then get beat 5- 0 or 4-1.

“That’s what you get at that level but it was hard for me to get my head round it . I hadn’t experienced it before so it was all new.

“I used to go home and get down about it. I’d sit and think: ‘How the f*** can that happen’?

“We got to the play-offs and were unlucky to lose to Alloa on penalties – then it ended in a way that I didn’t want it to.”

Airdrie were keen to keep Wilson on the proviso that he cut their budget accordingly – but committed himself fully to the job.

Fearing that it would take over his life, he decided against it.

He felt that if there was a chance it would threaten harmony at home with wife Kelly, there really was only one option. The former Celtic star said: “I decided to leave. There was so much uncertainty over contracts.

“I sent the boys on holiday with a date for the start of pre-season. But they didn’t even know if they were coming back.

“When I was away I found out the major shareholder had sold his shares in the club.

“I came back, had a meeting and they wanted me to stay. But I had to make cuts and big changes. I was going to have to do a lot more work on my own and I felt it wasn’t for me.

“There was a section of the Airdrie fans who hadn’t taken to me. I’m not sure if it was because of my playing history.

“But I felt, in those circumstances it was asking an awful lot of a young coach to go in and do himself justice.

“I was worried the stress levels might affect family life as well. It does affect you and my wife will tell you that.

“The other day, she reminded me of what I was like at Airdrie. I’d come home and not talk to anyone. Even when we won games, I was never satisfied. I would still pick faults.

“It’s a weird thing because I never thought I’d be like that.

“I thought as a manager, if I won a game, I’d be sitting back with a beer enjoying it. But there’s so much more to it.”

Despite all of that, it hasn’t put him off. With vast playing experience and mentors like Neil Lennon and Gordon Strachan, Wilson has plenty to offer.

He said: “I learned the most from Gordon and Lenny. They were stand-out managers.

“Everything was so up-tempo and different with Gordon. His knowledge of the game taught me so much.

“Lenny gets this tag of being a motivator but that’s unfair. He’s tactically brilliant. I had my best season at Celtic under him.

“My aim when I finished playing was always to get in somewhere as a first-team coach. I was lucky to get a manager’s job right away off the back of nothing. And I’m grateful for it.

“But young managers need a grounding. Guys like Jack Ross, for instance, served their time.

“It’s rare to go straight f rom play ing to management – and be a success.”

I’d to make big cuts and big changes – I felt it was asking a lot of a young coach