Easton glad to be back
Craig Easton jumped at the chance of a return to his beloved Dundee United – and admits it’s night and day from his time looking for somewhere to train.
Easton was appointed reserve team boss recently after a memorable career with the Tannadice side – playing over 200 first-team games from 1996 to 2004.
The 39-year-old, who left as head coach of Raith Rovers’ development team to take on the role, can’t wait to help United’s rising stars.
But he concedes their fivestar St Andrews training base is something he never had when he was starting out.
He said: “It was never part of a plan to come back – you can never plan anything in football – but for it to happen is nice. It’s a club I’ve been involved with since I was 13.
“It was my first full-time club, the one that gave me the chance to have a career.
“So to be back and hopefully passing on what I’ve learned to the boys coming through is brilliant.
“This is an unbelievable facility compared to what I trained on coming through.
“Back then you were in cars, going up to Dundee College, North End, maybe Violet, Camperdown Park. They were all decent surfaces but it was a day here, a day there.
“The base at St Andrews is what it should be and it’s brilliant we have it.
“The environment has been created for them, they get as much help as we can give in terms of training and their food afterwards.”
Easton recalls coming through the Tannadice youth ranks with a host of club legends and hopes those rich experiences can rub off as he aims to bring out the best in potential first-team stars.
He said: “Maurice Malpas was sti ll playing, Dave Bowman, the Scandinavian lads – Lars Zetterlund, Kjell Olofsson, wee Erik Pedersen.
“Steven Pressley was here, Ray McKinnon was about. Paul Hegarty was my youth team coach, with Gordon Wallace. It was a great time to be at the club, so it was a great place to learn your trade.
“A lot of the things we were doing back then you’re still doing them now. So we were a wee bit ahead of our time.”