Past success means new manager is not daunted by following Wright
Callum Davidson refuses to believe he has an impossible act to follow in succeeding St Johnstone’s most successful manager Tommy Wright because he was part of that act.
The 43-year-old, who yesterday swapped his role as firstteam coach at Millwall for his first frontline management job, was No 2 to Wright when the club won the Scottish Cup in 2014.
Davidson spent five years in the role before heading to England to work as assistant to Gary Rowett at Stoke City. After a brief spell at Dunfermline, he linked up again with Rowett at Millwall and, despite the wonders worked by Wright at Mcdiarmid Park, Davidson isn’t daunted by returning to the club where he began and ended his playing career.
“I worked with Tommy for five years and was part of what we did during that time,” said the former Scotland cap. “Tommy was the manager and I helped him along the way. So, for me, there is no pressure from that – the pressure comes from wanting to do well. I will put pressure on myself, I want to succeed so that’s where the pressure comes from.
“If there is any pressure it comes from the situation we are in at the moment because you’d obviously want to come in, have a normal pre-season and get the season going as it normally would. But the reality is we won’t be doing that and like everyone else, we’re going to have to adapt to football under Covid-19.
“Tommy was a brilliant manager here and he won’t be forgotten for the job he did and what he brought to the club. It’s a tough job but following Tommy isn’t something that was going to scare me off, not at all.”