WIN OR CRUST
No matter how you slice it, sandwich shop owner and Albion Rovers manager Brian Kerr is a full-time part-timer
BRIAN KERR takes a seat in the little office at his sandwich shop – aptly named Kerrusts – in the centre of Hamilton.
Behind him is a wall chart containing important business details. Staff lists, suppliers, utility bills and – slap bang in the middle – a first draft Albion Rovers line-up for the next day’s clash with Alloa.
This is Kerr’s life as a part-time manager in the lower reaches of the SPFL. Juggling three jobs (he also owns property and coaches at the SFA performance school in Motherwell) with the one that matters most to him – being a success at Cliftonhill.
Record Sport was granted an access-all-areas peek into the daily grind as Kerr and his backroom team bust a gut to save Rovers from a costly return to the bottom tier.
And from the high of picking up the League One Manager of the Month trophy in September to the lows of the current relegation scrap it’s easy to see why the job consumes almost every minute of the former Motherwell, Hibs and Newcastle midfielder’s life.
He said: “The part-time bit of this job needs to be forgotten about because it certainly isn’t part-time for the boys who want to make a go of it. The other jobs do not mean the same to me as the football. I was brought up with football as my life.
“Speak to anyone who knows me and it’s football that is going through my mind 24/7. There have been times when contracts have been printed in the sandwich shop then taken to players to sign.
“I’m in the shop three days a week including a Friday but preparing for the next day is always going through my head. Any wee minute I get to jump away to the office for squad lists or to scribble down a team, set-pieces and stuff like that, I do.
“It’s the same at home. My house is scattered with scraps of paper with teams written down and coaching sessions. My wife Leeanne goes daft about picking those up.
“But it’s a non-stop job. The endless phone calls to players, my assistant manager, agents, chairmen, going to Trust meetings, helping with fundraisers, helping with the Easter and summer coaching camps.
“I even found myself building an office the night before my first game which certainly wasn’t on the remit.
“There were sinks hanging off the wall, floorboards falling in and the place was a mess.
“We wanted to come in with a professional approach so the last thing we wanted was for our office to look a pigsty.
“We were there until 1am but the small things make a difference. If a player comes in to speak to you and sees that then it triggers alarm bells.
“It’s not just me though. You have the chairman who is cleaning the stadium and constantly being there through the week trying to keep things ticking over along with a number of board members.
“These guys have five or six jobs at the club. It’s incredible.”
It’s a far cry from the glamour of Champions League nights at Newcastle and Scotland caps under Berti Vogts.
Such is the tightening of belts at Cliftonhill the side are playing every match in their away kit because the numbers 9 and 11 on the traditional yellow strip are so badly damaged by the recent bad weather and they have no replacements.
And the intensity only increases as Albion fight their way through a fixture backlog that sees them playing twice a week.
It leaves just one 90-minute training session to prepare his side for a Saturday and the pressure is reaching boiling point.
Kerr said: “It’s very difficult. It pretty much just becomes games at this stage and training is just about keeping ticking over or a bit of fitness and rehab work.
“And we are up against a few full-time teams who have up to five hours a day through the week if they need it.”
Kerr might be inexperienced in the management game but he had some of the greats of world football as his mentors.
The midfielder was handed his Magpies debut by Ruud Gullit but it was under the guidance of Bobby Robson he flourished.
He said: “Man-management is the biggest thing I have taken from the bosses I had. It’s how you use players and utilise the positive aspects of their games.
“Bobby Robson was the prime example. You actually felt as if he was your dad. He cared for everybody and knew about everybody’s life behind the scenes.
“Nobody was left out, whether you were a young boy or Alan Shearer he treated everyone the same. That’s the reason he got the best out of Craig Bellamy, Kieron Dyer and all these guys who had problems behind the scenes.
“People talk about him getting names wrong – I heard him call Gary Speed Kevin Sheedy – but everyone responded to him.
“It’s the same here. There are boys with certain problems and you have to try to deal with them. It’s how you make the guys feel their best.
“It’s about creating relationships but it’s also a year-to-year thing as the group changes so quickly.”
Keeping Rovers up would be a massive achievement but with four games to go, and Albion above rock-bottom Queen’s Park just on goal difference, time is running out.
Kerr said: “We know what’s needed and need to keep believing. Together we can keep this club up.”
● Watch our full, exclusive, access all areas video taking a look inside Cliftonhill at dailyrecord.co.uk