Boot camp might give Templeton the X Factor
Tangerine training helped bring enigma back to boil at Hamilton
OVERWEIGHT and woefully short of match fitness, David Templeton needed a tough training environment in which to rediscover his edge. He found his boot camp on the playing fields of the University of St Andrews, where Dundee United manager Ray McKinnon agreed to do his goalkeeper Cammy Bell a favour and invite the former Hearts and Rangers winger to train with his promotion-chasing team.
The six-week interlude allowed Templeton to work on his physical condition and submerge himself in a team environment after months in isolation following his release from Ibrox, where he had previously teamed up with Bell.
‘Temps was here for a bit, training,’ recalls McKinnon. ‘He was overweight, there’s no doubt about that, and I think the travelling was hard. It was easier for him to go somewhere local to get his weight down.
‘He’s obviously done that and he’s a real player, a good player when he’s fit. We have to keep an eye on him.’
Templeton remains grateful for the help, even if he wishes to show his gratitude by killing McKinnon’s mission stone dead.
Recruited by Hamilton in March, Templeton started his first match since August 2015 last weekend and showed flashes of his old dribbling brilliance in a 4-0 win over Dundee. With Hamilton duly spared automatic relegation, they are now in the throes of a tense play-off with none other than United.
Templeton found possession hard to come by in the first leg at Tannadice in midweek and was largely stifled in the goalless draw. He hopes home advantage will help him see more of the ball today.
‘My time at United definitely helped,’ he says. ‘I managed to get five or six weeks of training in and lose a bit of weight and get myself a bit fitter.
‘Hopefully they’ll regret it! I’d like to notch a goal. Martin Canning took a chance on me and hopefully I have started to pay him back.’
Templeton admits that he is happy and relieved to be back playing after his Rangers career petered out amid concerns over a persistent knee injury. In truth, he never did fully take to life as a Rangers player following a transfer that reportedly netted Hearts £700,000 in 2012.
Virtually his last kick of the ball for the Edinburgh side saw him net a Europa League goal at Anfield, a moment that, arguably, stands as his career highlight despite the fact Luis Suarez almost immediately responded with an equaliser that took Liverpool through on aggregate.
Signed by Ally McCoist to help entertain during Rangers’ march through the divisions, the one-time Stenhousemuir starlet strolled through the part-time defences of the old Division Three but became less effective as the club climbed the ladder to the Championship.
McCoist’s departure effectively signalled the beginning of the end and he started just two League Cup ties under Mark Warburton before fading from view. Freed at the end of last season, he rejected a move to Edinburgh City and embarked on an ill-fated trial with Vancouver Whitecaps. Eventually, Hamilton decided to take a punt on one of Scottish football’s great enigmas.
Handed a short-term deal in March, the 28-year-old has already done enough to earn a one-year extension until the end of next season.
Canning has managed to get an hour out of Templeton in each of the past two games and will gauge the player’s fitness before determining whether to start him again today.
‘Last weekend was my first start in 21 months, so it has been a long time coming,’ he continued. ‘I’m just glad to be back playing again.
‘Obviously it was a horrendous time being out for as long as I was, not knowing what it was and if I was going to be back.
‘I am enjoying going back into training every day and the end of the season has come at the wrong time for me — everyone else is looking forward to a break and I just want to train and play.
‘But if I keep myself in doing stuff over the period we are off and get myself a good pre-season, I think it will benefit me massively.’
Ideally he would like to be playing in the Premiership next term.
He added: ‘We’re a little bit disappointed after Thursday because we wanted to go there and get a win to take back to our place.
‘But you can’t be too disappointed with a 0-0. We still have home advantage and, hopefully, we can use it.
‘If I am involved again I’d hope to get a bit more space and time. I’m feeling good, I’m getting fitter just through playing games now and I am feeling a lot better.
‘Of course there is more at stake but the boys are just treating it as a normal game. We want to go out and enjoy ourselves because when we do that that’s when we play our best.’