A recent Ian Cathro article got me thinking about Scottish football and its managers. Within the text, there was one phrase which stood out: jobs for the boys. In the light of the blowback to Cathro’s appointment, it’s interesting to look at where managers in Scotland come from and if it really is as conservative and limited as some think or would suggest
So what are jobs for the boys (JFTB)? Personally, I would say three parts are required. Firstly, they need to be a ‘proper football man’ i.e. an ex-player who knows how football should be played, with a media profile to match. They are also the type of person who’ll enjoy a ‘night out with the lads’ and all the stereotypical personality traits associated with someone who commonly uses such a sentence without irony. It is essentially Yer Da’s conceptualisation of what a footballer is/was. My definition of a proper football man leans heavily on John Nicholson’s work on the subject found here.
Secondly, they need a big club connection. This could be either of the Old Firm or one of the other clubs when going through a notably high-profile period – under Fergie at Aberdeen, for example. This makes them more likely to have favourable media connections to promote them during their career. The third and final element is over-promotion. Did the man get a job beyond his capabilities because of who he is? Has failure in his past been overlooked for this reason? In my view a manager has to tick all three criteria for him to belong in the JFTB family. Let’s have a look at how the current Premiership managers fit into this.
Derek McInnes – Aberdeen
Proper football man? Yes, undoubtedly. Played for Rangers during nine-in-a-row and off-field dalliances solidify this.
Big Club Connection? Yes. As above.
Over-promoted? No. Took St Johnstone to the top tier before a troubled spell at Bristol City. Seeing as the former was in Scotland and the latter not, it’s easier to assume he was a good pick for Aberdeen, which he’s shown with the club’s improvement since his arrival. Has them playing consistently at a level they haven’t got near for a generation.
Job for the Boys? Ultimately, no. He earned a shot at Aberdeen with his work at St Johnstone.
Brendan Rodgers – Celtic
PFM? No. A career coach with a propensity for Brentism that the lads find intolerable.
BCC? Not as a player. He was youth coach at Chelsea and former Liverpool manager.
Over-promoted? No. Rodgers’s achievements at Swansea and the English Celtic more than qualify him to be the Parkhead manager.
JFTB? Not even close.
Paul Hartley – Dundee
PFM? Yes. He had a strong playing career and became a Scottish international.
BCC? Yes. An ex-Celtic player and starred for Hearts at the height of the Romanov years.
Over-promoted? No. Hartley managed Alloa to two consecutive promotions before jumping ship whilst in the second tier. He was picked up by Dundee and won them promotion. He has retained premiership status since.
JFTB? Nope. Hartley has worked his way up the tiers in Scotland
Martin Canning – Hamilton Academical
PFM? Maybe. He went straight from player to player-manager so doesn’t really have a media profile for this career. Also, he’s spent large parts of his career in the lower leagues. Therefore, probably not.
BCC? No. Spent time with Hibs but wasn’t a particularly memorable period.
Over-promoted? Some Accies fans would say yes. I’d say no. Accies have a philosophy of promoting from within.
JFTB? Nope. An internal appointment fitting the club philosophy.
Ian Cathro – Heart of Midlothian
PFM? Definitely not. Never played.
BCC? None that matter in Scotland. Valencia and Newcastle are both large clubs but neither win you much favour here.
Over-promoted? No. Hearts are the only club with a director of football set-up that would make it workford a head coach type appointment.
JFTB? No.
Richie Foran – Inverness Caledonian Thistle
PFM? Maybe couldn’t say definitively. He’s growing a suspect beard which probably goes against him.
BCC? A career encompassed by Irish league football, the English lower leagues and two periods in Scotland with Motherwell and Inverness.
Over-promoted? Arguably, but not because of who he is but for budgetary/convenience reasons. Inverness is a hard sell and the club are still reeling from giving their largest ever playing budget to PFM John Hughes to squander on mediocrity.
JFTB? Nope. Internal promotion to deal with the aftermath of John Hughes.
Lee Clark – Killmarnock
PFM? Strong career but a bit intense and eccentric to be a PFM. Reportedly runs training at the same time of day as the next match kicks-off, which a PFM would no doubt object to. Interferes with biscuit and cake time.
BCC? For the north east of England, yeah, but not for Scotland. It’s his first job in Scotland.
Over-promoted? No, he’s a left field appointment. Nothing in his history suggests Kilmarnock is beyond him as a club.
JFTB? No chance.
Mark McGhee – Motherwell
PFM? Long career in playing and management but he’s never struck me as one. Went abroad twice as a player and said he definitely didn’t want the Celtic job when he was mentioned earlier in his career. For me he isn’t.
BCC? Yes. Played at Aberdeen under Ferguson and for Celtic.
Over-promoted? Possibly an unimaginative appointment at the time but it’s largely been vindicated since. He has a large and varied CV.
JFTB? No (but probably the closest so far)
Alan Archibald – Partick Thistle
PFM? Unlikely. He appears to have no personality and is therefore disqualified as a proper football man.
BCC? None. 10th in all time appearances for Patrick where he played his entire career bar a spell at Dundee united.
Over-promoted? I wouldn’t say so. Internally appointed won them promotion when Jackie MacNamara jumped ship to Dundee United. Now has Patrick Thistle as a standard bottom six Premiership side although one that has benefited from Hearts, St Mirren and Dundee United capitulations in recent seasons.
JFTB? No
Mark Warburton – Rangers
PFM? Nope. Ex-City trader who came to management via youth football and being a sporting director at Brentford.
BCC? None
Over-promoted? No. Right man for Rangers in the second tier. Has struggled to get his side going in top tier till recently and has struggled to deal with the press.
JFTB? Nah
Jim McIntyre – Ross County
PFM? He doesn’t have a particularly large media profile outside his professional life so it’s hard to tell, but he seems pretty close.
BCC? A career primarily based in Scotland at Airdrie, Dundee United, Kilmarnock and Dunfermline punctuated with two spells in England at Bristol and Reading.
Over-promoted? Harshly sacked in his first managerial role at Dunfermline where he won them promotion to the top tier. He later moved to Queen of the South where he had them as a competitive Championship side before being brought to Ross County to replace the Derek Adams selection tombola. At County they won their first major trophy and gone from stick-ons for relegation to competitive SPFL side. So no.
JFTB? Nope
Tommy Wright – St Johnstone
PFM? Tommy comes across as a solid and sensible guy not prone to the excesses of PFM.
BCC? Career that was spent primarily in England and Northern Ireland and he had a profile so low I never knew who he was before he became St Johnstone manager.
Over-promoted? Joined St Johnstone in 2011 as assistant manager to Steve Lomas after several years managing in Northern Ireland. Was promoted to manager and has proven very capable getting St Johnstone as consistent top six side who are hard to beat side as well as winning the Scottish Cup in 2014.
JFTB? Naw
Conclusion
This is a qualitative analysis and consequently subjective, but in my view jobs for the boys doesn’t exist as a thing at club level in the Scottish top flight, at least when it comes to managers. If it did you’d wonder why the likes Bill Davies and Jimmy Calderwood cannot get management jobs. Even when you go down the leagues competence holds sway over reputation (Gary Locke’s continued employment notwithstanding). Barry Ferguson a former Scotland internationalist and captain does not need to go and work at Clyde as his reputation could have easily garnered him a role at a larger club.
I think the reason for the end of jobs for the boys is money in two regards. Firstly, managers like Calderwood and Davies would demand expenditure and investment that would likely stretch most Premiership budgets whilst possibly overlooking youth prospect. Secondly, it’s a structural issue more and more clubs in Scotland are moving to systems whereby the manager is a cog within a structure and finding the right coach to slot into that. Currently 25% of managers in the Premiership are internal appointments. That points to clubs wanting to avoid disturbing the club ethos whilst as saving money, whether this works is a different story. Jobs for the boys as a concept at club level does not exist. At the SFA on the other hand…
Written by Duncan McNab