‘If you didn’t get into a fight with him, you can’t have been there long’

BACK in February of this year, the Dundee Repertory Theatre rolled out a new production entitled Smile, a biographical telling of the life of Jim McLean. For Maurice Malpas, a player who had served under McLean through all his great triumphs at Dundee United, the play was a revelation.

‘I sat there and realised that I never even remotely knew him,’ said Malpas, reflecting last night after the passing of his former manager. ‘That’s a shame. I worked under him for 20-odd years and had no idea what he was really like.’

A member of United’s one and only league-winning team of 1983, Malpas was afield for the club’s controversial defeat to Roma in the European Cup semi-final the following year.

He also played in both legs of the club’s victories over Barcelona in the European run of 1986-87 which ended in defeat to Gothenburg in the UEFA Cup Final.

‘If you suggested any of that to your average youngster now, that Dundee United could do any of these things, they would assume you were joking,’ continued Malpas. ‘But Jim did it. And he did it on a budget.

‘As he put it himself, it was the corner shop taking on the supermarkets. And the corner shop won.

‘He did it by believing in young players. He had a crop of us come through, David Narey, Paul Sturrock, Richard Gough, Ralph Milne. And in terms of tactics and preparation, he was light years ahead of his time.’

He added: ‘People will inevitably talk about the rows. And if you were around Tannadice at that time and didn’t get into a fight with Jim, then you can’t have been there very long.

‘He was disciplinarian. He was tough. But he also got the best out of you. And he made you believe in everything he was doing.

‘I can’t say I ever got to know the man at all. I just thought he was a football obsessive.’

Written by Phil Differ, Smile managed to shine a light on those unseen corners of McLean’s life.

‘A few of the players and our wives went along to the Rep and I think we all had the same reaction,’ explains Malpas. ‘There he was, playing cards with his family. Taking his kids out to his favourite steakhouse in Dundee. Doing normal things and having a life away from the club.

‘We never knew any of that. We thought he never saw his family because he was always at Tannadice. He was such a private person. And he was never one for getting in the middle of everyone and joining in any chat or discussions.

‘We just knew him as a soccer pervert. He was infatuated with the game. He was ridiculed for having a satellite dish on the roof before satellite television was even a thing. He’d sit up to all hours watching South American football and the like.

‘And he had us into what you would now call sports science 40 years ago. The man was so far ahead of his time that it’s just unreal.

‘For me the biggest compliment is that when Jock Stein was Scotland manager he turned to Jim. Jock was the Godfather of management, the best of all time. And he valued what Jim had to say.’

Malpas reckons it must be 15 years since he last encountered McLean and admits it never really crossed his mind to pick up the phone and ask for advice, be it during his own managerial exploits at Motherwell and Swindon or during his spells as assistant to Terry Butcher at Inverness and Hibs. ‘Thinking now, perhaps I should have,’ he continues. ‘But then I don’t know if Jim would have wanted that anyway.’

A 12-year-old Allan Preston signed on S Form terms for United on the day they clinched the league title at Dens Park.

Although a generation too late to enjoy the success of Malpas, Narey and Co, Preston managed to establish a bond that endured beyond his playing career.

He continued: ‘Jim wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea but I had the utmost respect for him. Don’t get me wrong, it was difficult as a young boy. It was not easy being under Jim McLean at a young age. But the good thing is you knew in no uncertain terms whether you had played good, bad or indifferent. Because he told you.

‘The day I got the manager’s job at Livingston in 2004, he phoned me up to congratulate me. And he said: “The clock’s ticking until you get the sack”.

‘He was right, of course, and it didn’t take long. That was him. He told you the truth and he told you straight.

‘He shaped my career in terms of discipline and how I approached everything. I owed him a lot.’

United’s rise in the 1980s coincided with Aberdeen’s tilt at dominance under Alex Ferguson.

Around 2000, during a coaching gig south of the border, Preston was invited for an audience with the Manchester United sage. McLean was the main topic of conversation.

‘When I was assistant manager at Macclesfield, I was lucky enough to twice be invited along to Manchester United’s training ground at Carrington.

‘I had one-to-one time with him, we had dinner and I sat in his office and all he wanted to talk about was Jim McLean.

‘He told me a story about Jim phoning him up late one Sunday night and accusing him of tapping up Paul Sturrock.

‘You’ve tapped Paul Sturrock.’

‘No I haven’t.’

‘Yes, you have.’

‘I’m telling you now, Jim, I haven’t.’

‘Well somebody has.’

Preston continued: ‘Sir Alex was convinced he was sitting there at 11pm at night phoning round every manager in the country trying to work out who it was!

‘Sir Alex said he was a genius. I agree with that. He was brilliant.’