Davidson has designs on the Scotland job
While he may no longer be a Scotland assistant coach, Callum Davidson harbours ambitions to return one day as manager of the national side.
Provided that is, the 41-year-old acknowledges with a laugh, he can avoid falling off the managerial merry-go-round so hard he isn’t able to clamber back on again!
Davidson, now assistant to Gary Rowett at Stoke City following a summer switch from St Johnstone, speaks with the authority of someone who knows what he is talking about.
The English Championship is a notoriously tough place to manage.
In 2015-16, 75% of its clubs rang the changes during the campaign, compared with a rate of attrition of just 40% in the EPL over the same period.
Paul Lambert yesterday became the latest to benefit from this ridiculous rate of turnover when he succeeded the sacked Paul Hurst as manager at Ipswich Town.
Davidson confirmed: “I have come south to challenge myself, and that’s what I am doing.
“And while this is a tough environment for coaches, it is also one which offers tremendous opportunities for those involved to realise their goals.
“I am as ambitious as anyone, and my aim has to be to eventually become a manager in my own right, and get as high as I can in the game.
“For me, I guess that would be managing Scotland. That would be the pinnacle, especially if we could get to a major Finals.
“It might sound a bit impossible now, but I have always felt it is good to have dreams, goals and targets. Big ones, as well as small.
“But football has a way of always putting new obstacles in your path.
“Management is a high-risk business, one in which we are all on borrowed time.
“If the team gets on a bad run, one you can’t help it get out of, then before you know it, you could be looking for a new job.
“That comes with the territory. There is no point worrying about it.
“Instead, you have to focus on working hard to achieve your ambitions.”
Rowett was a team-mate and friend of Davidson’s at Leicester City from 2000 to 2002, and the pair stayed in touch.
Nevertheless, the decision to try to prise him away from Perth, was not taken on sentiment.
“I heard Gary made reference in the press to me being ‘headhunted’ by Scotland for my coaching ability, and I do think the stint with the national team did play a part in me getting the offer,” said Davidson.
“Actually, I have less idea why Scotland came for me.
“I just got the call from Gordon Strachan who said: ‘Would you like to come along?’
“Straight away, I replied: ‘Er, aye, definitely!’
“Because as far as I am concerned it is same as when you were a player. The club stuff is great, but being involved with your country is as good as it gets.
“What a first game I got – the World Cup qualifier against England at Hampden, the 2-2 draw in which Leigh Griffiths scored the two free-kicks.
“The atmosphere when they went in was just off the chart. The Scotland fans went nuts and the noise was incredible.
“I loved it, every bit of it, actually, with the exception of their goals.
“In total, I think I had six games with the country and it was a brilliant time.
“The best thing I did as a player was to represent Scotland on the international stage. I am a coach now, and my time was as good as it gets.
“I learned stuff from working with Gordon Strachan – the way he was with the ‘big-name’ players, for example – that will definitely stay with me as long as I am coaching.
“The only downside was that we couldn’t get us to the World Cup Finals. I was absolutely gutted about that.
“Anyway, for me, it was just a terrific opportunity.”
Of more concern to Davidson is the challenge he is facing right now – how to help Rowett get Stoke up the Championship table.
“I guess there are some similarities to my time as a player because I left St Johnstone to go to England back then, too.
“That worked out well for me, and led to some tremendous experiences that I will always treasure. That has to be aim with this move as well.
“It is very busy. That’s the first thing you notice about the Championship.
“If you get beat, you have the consolation of knowing the chance to bounce back is right round the corner. But the travelling and having to deal with injuries and suspensions isn’t easy.
“The playing surfaces in England, at this level anyway, are better and that in turn allows teams to play better football.
“And there are big clubs. Stoke spent a lot of years in the Premier League and claimed plenty of scalps, so there is an expectation that we should go up.
“But we are in a league with the likes of West Brom, Sheffield United and Leeds.
“As the coaching team we have to deal with the expectation but that’s OK, we have broad shoulders.”