Let the games begin...
says Edinburgh City boss JAMES McDONAUGH
SPORTING WORLD ADJUSTS TO A NEW WAY OF LIFE... BUT WITH IT COMES A WARNING OVER MENTAL HEALTH OF OUR YOUNG STARS
SOCIAL distancing. A suddenly ubiquitous phrase in the midst of a global health crisis yet one that neatly encapsulates a long-standing rule of football management. For decades, received wisdom decreed that the man in charge should never get too close to his players.
Yet as awareness has grown around the scourge of mental-health issues, the maxim that made fear a more valued commodity than friendship seems hopelessly outdated.
The onset of the coronavirus pandemic has caused everyone to further revise their priorities.
These strange and unsettling times call for a softer approach, something Edinburgh City boss James McDonaugh had cause to reflect on last week.
Stuck at home and unable to train his promotion-chasing League Two team for the foreseeable future, McDonaugh broke with protocol on Wednesday night.
As he began dispatching text messages to each individual in his part-time squad, his phone started to chirp and vibrate.
Some were thankful for the attention. Others felt compelled to unburden themselves. The whole process allowed McDonaugh to reconnect with the vocational side of his job.
‘I just wanted to show a wee bit of interest,’ said McDonaugh. ‘Find out how their families are coping, how they are feeling. In terms
of communicating a message to 20 players, I would normally do that through my captain Craig Thomson. I stay off the group chat, so they can speak about the manager!
‘I normally try to distance myself a little, but this is a different kind of situation and that was reflected in the responses. They seemed quite appreciative.’
Already a matter of grave concern among the age group of the professional footballer, mental well-being is an issue that will broaden over these next few weeks as society adjusts to a period of containment.
Two years into his managerial career, McDonaugh has always tried to strike a balance between judging a safe social distance and being there for his players when they need him most.
He appreciates that football may not pay all the bills for these Edinburgh City players but it does provide a sense of purpose and direction to their lives.
‘My players are all part-time and lead very different lives,’ he added.
‘Some have kids, some live on their own. Some have girlfriends, others are married. A few live with their parents.
‘We have boys working in offices, as personal trainers. Craig Thomson is on a business site. Conrad Balatoni is a financial advisor.
‘All these jobs come with their own concerns. And now these guys don’t have their football to fall back on.
‘It’s a concern. One or two are isolating, one might even have the virus but we can’t be sure because they aren’t being tested.
‘That’s where man-management comes in. I can’t assume they are all sitting at home fine with their families.
‘The mental-health issue is real and it has been a real eye-opener for me. No coaching course prepares you for the moment a player phones you up to tell you he is struggling.
‘You just have to use your own experience, your human side. You need to be there if you can, not panic and pass the problem on.
‘The boys have so many other people in their lives — be it bosses, colleagues or family members. But they are also my players.
‘This period could be really challenging for all of us.’
City’s last training session took place a week past on Thursday at the national performance centre at Oriam, where the twice-weekly practice is scheduled late to fit the working habits of the squad.
McDonaugh is understanding of the effort required to train hard after a full day of often arduous work and so tries to make his sessions as enjoyable as possible.
For players and coaches alike, that stimulation evaporated overnight.
‘The messages I got back all said the same thing — they are desperate to train. They are missing it,’ said McDonaugh. ‘I could put on the worst session in the world tomorrow and they would think it was brilliant.
‘Normally it’s the players approaching the end of their careers who recognise how lucky they are. This week, the younger ones realise what they have to lose.
‘There’s not even any football on television to fill the void.
‘Everybody is in the same bracket. I want to go to a higher level, manage a full-time team. But I’m lucky. I realise it’s better to be doing this part-time than be stuck in the house full-time.’
McDonaugh can count on the support and company of wife Gillian, a part-time social care worker, while this week the house will be at full capacity as their three children Ellie, Katie and Joseph adapt to life after school closures.
With access to the golf course restricted and his auxiliary work with the Scottish FA, Loretto High School and East Lothian Council all in abeyance, McDonaugh has found himself playing board games to pass time.
A passionate, hands-on coach, McDonaugh cut short his playing career in his early 20s and was soon balancing a job with a finance firm alongside coaching duties with Hibs.
Eventually he went full-time and ascended to head of academy coaching, helping the likes of Scott Brown and Jason Cummings along the way.
He was cut adrift as the club reset following relegation in 2014, a hurtful episode that was soon followed by a fresh opportunity as Peter Houston invited him to join in at Falkirk, where he helped the club twice contest the Premiership promotion play-offs and reach the 2015 Scottish Cup Final.
After three years beside Houston, he branched out and accepted a mid-season offer to take over a City team that was in danger of slipping back into the Lowland League.
McDonaugh stabilised the side and took it into the promotion play-offs in his first full season.
Before the current suspension, City were comfortably stationed in second place behind Cove Rangers, all but guaranteed another shot at the play-offs.
Despite the sustained forward momentum, he admits the pressure of trying to catch a well-funded Cove team has taken its toll on his own mental health.
‘Nobody ever checks if the manager
You have to use your human side, be there for your players and not panic
is all right,’ he mused. ‘Personally, I’ve found it really challenging over the last few months, especially difficult if we lose games.
‘I find being part-time especially difficult because often you don’t see the players from a Saturday to a Tuesday.
‘Unfortunately we don’t train until 8:30pm on the Tuesday, so if you do the maths, it’s 75 hours. Those three days are hellish.
‘I feel like I am in that mode now. I have already said to my assistant Colin Jack that I am so glad we won our last game. Who knows how long this will last? If we ended up five months without a win, how would I feel!
‘Some managers can shake it off.
They’re single-minded and make their decisions without fear of the consequences.
‘That’s something I need to work on. I take the whole lot home, worry about everything from dropping a player to how I’ve set up.
‘I’m waking up every day, even now, thinking I need to do analysis on this opponent and that and yet why?
‘If we get the season restarted, are the other teams even going to have the same players? Are we?’
Contractually, Edinburgh are relatively secure as they have been proactive in signing up many of their first-team players for another season.
Yet the scary financial reality that has already seen Hearts propose a 50-per-cent wage cut for all staff is expected to ricochet all the way down the leagues.
McDonaugh has a strong relationship with his chairman Jim Brown but, although City should survive, there is likely to be pain along the way.
‘Jim is brilliant with the club, he doesn’t take a penny out of it and makes sure it runs day to day,’ said McDonaugh.
‘But he is finding it tough, too. The club had a sportsman’s brunch organised for this Sunday that might have raised £5,000-10,000, which is a massive sum for us.’
We meet, at a safe distance, on Thursday afternoon. By Friday lunchtime, the club has launched a JustGiving page to raise funds.
If only all the world’s problems could be solved by simply phoning a friend.
Nobody ever checks if the manager is all right. Personally, I’ve found all of this really challenging