Gallacher is sure genius Jim could have followed Fergie’s path to glory in England

KEVIN GALLACHER had no qualms about quitting Dundee United to reboot his career in England. He only wishes Jim McLean had done the same and transferred his New Firm rivalry with Sir Alex Ferguson south of the border.

Had that happened, Gallacher suspects Ferguson’s dominance with Manchester United might not have been quite so straightforward.

Ferguson left Aberdeen in the autumn of 1986 and later that same season McLean was leading United to the UEFA Cup Final, defeating the might of Barcelona and Borussia Monchengladbach along the way.

Ferguson would eventually go on to establish a dynasty with United that yielded two European Cups and 13 domestic titles but McLean stayed put and would never add to the solitary Scottish title won by United in 1983.

Regardless of the medal count, Gallacher reckons it was McLean who was the more tactically astute and denied proper recognition for his achievements.

‘I don’t think Jim has had enough credit,’ he argues. ‘I look at Sir Alex Ferguson and what he did — Wee Jim had an opportunity to go to Rangers and I think he should have jumped at the chance. If an English club had come in, I think he should have jumped at the chance too.

‘The man was way above his platform. His talent and the way he did it. I know he operated with an iron rod and, with today’s society it wouldn’t have worked, but back then it worked.’

The scorer of a memorable winner against Barca in the first leg of the UEFA Cup quarter-final at Tannadice, Gallacher would make a £950,000 transfer to Coventry City in 1990, eventually winning the English Premier League with Blackburn Rovers five years later.

Just as Ferguson took time to adjust, he believes McLean’s revolutionary coaching methods would eventually have taken root and flourished.

‘It took Sir Alex Ferguson five years to get into it down there. It’s a different culture. People laugh at me when I say you struggle with the language barrier down there — but you do!

‘Wee Jim would have had to iron out a few things, just like Sir Alex, who went from ruling with an iron rod to Aberdeen to having to change it.

‘He got a wee bit of luck and the rest is history. That could have happened to Wee Jim dead easy.

‘I thought Jim’s tactics were superior to Aberdeen’s but look at the success Aberdeen had under Fergie. Obviously he had something there.’

United are this week celebrating the 30th anniversary of their ascent to the UEFA Cup Final and, for Gallacher, a teenager when he played in the two-legged affair against Gothenburg, the memories still burn bright.

As a young apprentice, he had watched McLean lead the club to a European Cup semi-final against Roma and regarded such occasions as part of the fabric of United.

‘To think it’s 30 years makes me feel old — and I’m one of the younger boys,’ he remarks. ‘I don’t think I appreciated it. To me, it was part of growing up at Dundee United.

‘I stood in the tunnel watching the team play in the European Cup semi-final thinking: “One day, I hope I can play on the same stage”. A couple of years later and I was doing it.

‘That was just the nature of the beast. It was the culture, playing European football every year, it was almost a guarantee, because of the strength and depth of talent we had at the club.

‘I was 16 when we played Roma, on the groundstaff. I remember standing next to Falcao, the big Brazilian. I hadn’t grown by that stage, so I was maybe 5ft 5in. He just seemed like he was 7ft tall, the way he carried himself.

‘It was phenomenal watching it. There was a 20,000 crowd at Tannadice but it seemed like 100,000.’ Gallacher (below), the grandson of legendary Celtic striker Patsy Gallacher, was expected to follow the family line and sign for the Glasgow club but admits he was put off the idea at the tender age of 13.

He explains: ‘My life was planned at Celtic. I was in the boardroom with Billy McNeill and the Celtic board and they were selling the club to me. I was so chuffed to be signing for Celtic, when at the end of the meeting Billy turned round and said: “The only thing I’m concerned about is you’re a wee bit small, a bit frail — I need to get you on the Guinness”.

‘That’s why I didn’t sign for Celtic. I was brought up in a

pub. I’d seen a lot of alcoholics and misdemeanours in pubs in Glasgow.

‘I always thought footballers were angels, clean-cut guys — until I became one, then I realised that wasn’t true — and it seemed a strange thing to be saying to a 13-year-old.

‘Okay, I don’t think Billy knew what I had experienced at the pub but I got a bit disillusioned. We came out, my dad, me, my uncle Tommy and I just said no.’

United were quickly on the scene and with McLean, a famous teetotaller, there was no mention of alcohol — in jest or otherwise.

‘Wee Jim sold the whole club to me. He never mentioned my size or my weight. He just said if I was good enough I would get an opportunity,’ recalled Gallacher.

‘I knew there was a concern about my size but I always thought if my grandfather could do it when he was about three stone lighter and two inches shorter, why couldn’t I?’

Having excelled for United and already earned his first caps for Scotland, Gallacher moved south at the age of 22 and also went on to play for Newcastle United and Preston North End. Now 50, he still resides in Lancashire.

‘With the New Firm challenging, Scottish football was good back then but the thing that chased me away was that I was playing against Aberdeen eight times a season with all the replays and everything. And there’s only so many times you can play against Tosh McKinlay!

‘To me it needed help and revamped. I could have come back to Scotland all the way until about the age of 28 but I always said no.

‘I moved south thinking they would all know about me but nobody did.

‘That was my first challenge. To make people know who Kevin Gallacher was.

‘To this day people down there still don’t know I played in a UEFA Cup Final, they don’t know my family history. They only know me as the guy who started his career at Coventry.’

Sadder still, they never did get to learn first-hand about the genius of Jim McLean.

KEVIN GALLACHER was speaking to promote purpleTV’s new film,

Tannadice 87. It will air on Saturday May 20 at 9pm on BBC ALBA, marking the 30th anniversary of Dundee United’s run to the UEFA Cup Final.

I thought Jim’s tactics were superior to Aberdeen’s. He was way above his platform and I don’t think he has had enough credit