My Mrs Rock & Roll is music to my fears

Comfort Foster’s out of his Amy zone thanks to singer

The fact he’s a mile outside his own isn’t lost on him. As a pro for 16 years, with 500 games behind him, he has rarely been anywhere else.

Football: the ultimate bubble. Lifted and laid, fed and watered.

Now, though? The coaching badges he started but never thought he’d have the nerve to finish?

The six-year psychology degree he started but never thought he’d have the brains or the willpower to see to its end?

He’s doing them. No more taking the easy way out at the first sign of things getting hard.

That, he insists, is down to the fact the love of his life has spent her entire life doing things the hard way. And now it’s his turn. In the week leading up to his marriage to rock star partner Amy Macdonald in Las Vegas, the 32-year- old isn’t ladding it up one last time on the Strip.

Instead he’s at Oriam, working on the introduction to his UEFA ‘A’ Licence, hunched studiously over a notebook at the lunch table.

He’s fretting over a session he could do blindfolded if he was on the receiving end in his St Johnstone training gear – but can he deliver it?

The platinum hair and arms full of ink suggest a guy entirely comfortable in his own skin.

But it’s the kind of insecurity that has seen the former Aberdeen, Bristol City, Rangers and Ross County full- back choose the easy route too often.

Foster confessed: “I was kind of forced into coming here. Persuaded, let’s say, by Amy and my dad.

“Why? Because it’s out of my comfort zone. Amy is constantly tel l ing me you’ l l never achieve anything, never learn, unless you come out of your comfort zone.

“But it is what it is, right?” he adds with a laugh. “It’s a nice place to stay.

“So I was nervous. Even though I’ve done my ‘ B’ Licence before. Asking me to come here and play football? Fine. I’ve played in front of huge crowds.

“But coaching’s different. Now that I’ve done a bit though, I’m losing less sleep over doing it again.

“So now I understand why it was a good idea to come.”

Foster is heading into his second marriage but multi-platinum-selling Macdonald has clearly had a profound effect on his life.

The 30-year-old, one of Scotland’s most popular singer- songwriters, has climbed the ladder to the top of her profession step by agonising step – no Pop Idol shortcuts, just talent and graft.

Foster said: “I’m doing these badges and my psychology degree through the Open University. I’d have given both up if it hadn’t been for Amy.

“She offers me a no-nonsense perspective – get on with it, stop moaning and making excuses.

“A lot of these things I want to do but talk myself out of – the psychology degree has been tough and before I met Amy, the person I was would have given up.

“I wouldn’t have been bothered with the hassle and stress. But all the things she has achieved, she has worked hard for herself and has done most of it on her own.

“She’s got a team around her now but she’s an inspiration. She’s constantly out of her comfort zone.

“Flying al l over the world , knackered, putting on a nice face to greet the world.

“I see what she goes through and how tough her job is and it makes me think ‘ You know what, I can do these things.’”

Foster decided to take on the challenge of the degree through his fascination with the dynamics of the dressing- room, the relationships between managers and players.

Given his own self-analysis, he’d make a great case study for himself.

He sa id : “The rea son I contemplated stopping was simply because it was diff icult. It’s a demanding course.

“When I was at County I was doing a fair bit of travelling to see Amy and my son. It was time consuming. And when you’re trying to learn, you need to invest the time otherwise there’s no point. I want to do it properly.

“I love studying the dynamic between people. Looking at coaches and managers and players.

“There are so many d i f ferent t y pes of character. How do I deal with you? How do I deal with someone like myself who’s vocal and lets his emotions get the better of him at times.

“How do you get the best out of people? That has always interested me.

“When I saw the psychology degree on the Open University I wanted to do it – to get my brain active, if nothing else.

“So I’m coming to the end of my fourth year. I’ve deferred my exam until September because of the wedding then I’ve two more years that wi l l hopeful ly earn me an honours degree.

“It was always with a view to being a manager and working out how to get the best out of the players.

“How your team plays, yes, you get different formations and tactics – but essentially football is about mistakes and avoiding them.

“Some players brush them off, carry on playing, no problem. Others make one mistake, then two, then three. So how do

you help his confidence, to make fewer mistakes and recover quicker from any he does make?

“Football ’s simple, people are complicated.

“So if you have good relationships with players and staff and a good working environment, it should reflect on the pitch.”

Foster worked under four different bosses in a decade at Aberdeen.

At Ibrox, his gaffers were Walter Smith and Ally McCoist and he has been managed by Derek McInnes at Bristol City, Jim McIntyre at Ross County and now Tommy Wright at Saints.

He’ll take the good characteristics from all of them – and learn from the bad. Foster said : “Take my relationship with Jimmy Calderwood.

“We got on well at Dons and any fallouts were on the training pitch.

“That’s where they should have stayed – between the two of us – but it got highly publicised.

“But what he said sticks with me now: ‘ What you’re saying might be right, Foz, but I’m the manager and I’m asking you to do something else.’

“He’s living and dying by his decisions. Even if what I’m doing is right, if I’m not doing it the way he wants then I’m doing it wrong.”

Foster admits his relationship with Macdonald opened his eyes to a world he knew nothing about. Now he’s the ultimate ligger!

He doesn’t even try to hide the admiration in his voice as he says: “I watch her as much as I can. I’ve been to gigs a l l over Europe depending on what days off I have.

“I was never massively into music. You’d hear something and think it’s a good song – but when you hear it live, you just think, ‘ Wow.’

“The dynamic in a band is like the one we have in a dressing-room.

“They all get on, have a laugh and joke and take the p*** – but they still have each other’s back. I feel as if I’m almost one of the gang now.”

Renowned for her love of fast cars and with Ferraris in the driveway, though, is there not more danger of finding a comfort zone marrying in to the glamour of the rock’n’ roll lifestyle than there is in football?

“Possibly,” he says with a laugh, “but I’ve always known I’d have to further my career after football. I’ve never rested on my laurels.

I’m doing my badges and a uni degree – but I’d have given both up if it hadn’t been for Amy

“Amy wouldn’t allow it and I’ve more to offer than downing tools. I’d just get bored.

“So I need to keep my brain active and engaged because the devil makes work for idle thumbs. “How do I make myself better? I know what I can do – but what can’t I do and why don’t I try? “Some things are a tiny step, others are massive. “But sometimes the things you think are massive turn out to be tiny.” WORDS OF WISDOM Calderwood told Foster truth about being a boss