THE GRADUATE
Courts ready to take step up from his academy role to manager as United put faith in youth system
TWO months before this year’s Oscars ceremony took place in Los Angeles, Dundee United hosted their own second annual Academy Awards night via Zoom.
The brainchild of Mark Ogren, the event recognised the performances of players aged 11 to 18 and left no one in any doubt as to the importance the American chairman and owner placed on the need for the club to rear its own.
‘Our academy is and will remain the focal point of our club,’ said Ogren. ‘The emphasis we put on this event is indicative of the importance it has at our club. The future is very bright at Dundee United.’
This has been the Ogren family’s mantra from the moment they bought a controlling interest at Tannadice in December, 2018.
It is the reason why they see the imminent elevation of Tam Courts from head of tactical performance at the academy to head coach of the first-team as one grounded in common sense. However unfamiliar the name of the 39-year-old Fifer may be to many, with the right support network, the Ogrens firmly believe he can ease the best graduates into the side.
The owners are acutely aware that Courts’ promotion may prove a hard sell for fans who will understandably question his frontline experience but it’s now increasingly apparent that they will not be moved.
So who is this man who will soon step from the shadows into the limelight?
From a distance, there is little to distinguish the Kirkcaldy-born coach from the crowd.
Thomas ‘Tam’ Courts began his playing career at Livingston, cutting his teeth as a young centre-half before settling into a career with various lower league and junior sides including Cowdenbeath, East Fife, Hill of Beath Hawthorn and three spells with Kelty Hearts.
His final stint at Kelty between 2013-18 saw him assume playermanager duties. Year-on-year improvement seemingly made him a natural fit to lead the side from the Lowland League to League Two but Courts surprised everyone by quitting the club, with Barry Ferguson taking charge.
He attracted interest from clubs as diverse as Sheffield United, West Ham and Dutch side NAC Breda but it was a post within the United academy last February that floated his boat.
United were keen to recruit coaches with different life experiences. They liked the fact that Courts hadn’t rolled off an SFA production line and had played the game in tough, unforgiving environments.
In possession of a UEFA A-Licence, driven, intelligent and a natural communicator, he was a revelation as he honed the stars of tomorrow.
Those who have seen him go about his work talk of his Herculean work ethic and an insatiable appetite for new information, be it in the field of sports science, medicine or analysis.
He is hardy and straightforward but said to be the epitome of a modern coach.
But why now? And why not a year ago? This does seem to be a deviation from the road the club went down when it appointed Micky Mellon?
The fact is that neither Courts or the club felt the time was right back then. He’d only arrived in the February and it felt far too soon.
With the clock ticking on the new season, Mellon was seen as a good fall-back option but one who was never the identikit of what the club wanted. Courts now is. This was always the plan.
The trial run arrived in December when a spate of positive Covid tests and necessary isolations saw Courts handed the reins. Despite the side going down 2-0 at Livingston, he impressed.
For all Mellon ticked the main box — survival — in his one year at the club, his buy-in to the owners’ academy-based ethos was some way short of absolute.
Concerns arose that the attacking style of play encouraged at the lower levels of the club wasn’t being replicated in the first team, with the side becoming even more defensive after a 4-0 hammering at Ibrox in September.
Courts has a natural affinity with those academy graduates who are now on the cusp of the first team.
They will not be thrown off the deep end in sevens or eights or before they are ready but they will get their chance.
With the first team’s style of play set to be closely aligned to the levels below, the belief is that they should stand a better chance of prospering.
There is acknowledgement at boardroom level that Courts’ weak hand will be a lack of top-level managerial experience.
Parallels will inevitably be drawn with the disastrous Ian Cathro experiment at Hearts.
But 39-year-old Courts has at least managed before — even if that apprenticeship was served at Kelty.
With the trend across Europe moving towards the promotion of emerging academy coaches, his appointment will not be unique.
United’s view is that, while age and experience are welcome attributes, they offer no guarantees. Kilmarnock and Tommy Wright can attest to that.
Courts will be afforded patience by his paymasters, which is not to say there will be a honeymoon period.
In a league that looks stronger than last year, he’ll be expected to improve upon this year’s ninth-place finish and take the club into the top six. And all while improving those under his wing.
Former United coach Gordon Forrest, who Courts played with at Livingston, is favourite to be his assistant provided his release can be secured from Hearts. The fall-back option is a vastly experienced No 2.
The fact that United already have experienced support staff in the building in Davie Bowman and Brian Grant is an added comfort.
The duo were around the Scottish scene when Jim McLean’s conveyer belt of talent took the club to dizzying heights. It will soon be the task of a lesser-known Fifer to turn the clock back.