Fiery Scot Strachan can be misunderstood

WHEN Sir Alex Ferguson took over at Manchester United in November 1986, he followed a little, tenacious midfielder to Old Trafford who had taken the route from Aberdeen two years earlier. Gordon Strachan and his mentor at Pittodrie had been reunited.

According to Ferguson “there was little evidence of the zest and cocky assurance that characterised his play in Scotland but, verbally, he was as assertive as ever with an acid wit”.

Such wit cost him at United, with Ferguson moving him on three years later.

But to those close enough to know him, Strachan is not the character Ferguson once claimed “could not be trusted an inch”. He is an honest, intelligent man born in Edinburgh 52 years ago, whose dry sense of humour can often be misunderstood.

“People often take him the wrong way when he’s just trying to have a bit of banter,”

said Kevin Richardson, Darlington’s assistant manager who played under him at Coventry City. “He’ll throw things out to see if people recognise what he’s said. That’s his way of assessing players and people in the media as well.

“He’ll sit there and come out with a line and watch people’s expressions and think to himself ‘well, I’ve seen four out of these ten people have a little smile which means the other six haven’t a clue what I’m talking about’.”

Strachan went to Coventry City in 1995 as a player-coach under Ron Atkinson. It was a move designed to clear his path into management, having had 24 years winning European and domestic honours with Aberdeen, Manchester United and Leeds after starting out as a raw teenager with Dundee.

When he captained Leeds to the Second Division title in 1990, his success even prompted Ferguson to send him a letter suggesting that he had been wrong to let him go when he did one summer earlier.

Rather than reflect on what was an illustrious playing career, however, it is his performance and chirpy charisma as manager that Middlesbrough fans will want to know about.

As Gareth Southgate and Roy Keane have shown, internationally renowned footballers are not guaranteed to make a smooth transition into top managers.

It was when Strachan moved to Highfield Road to join Atkinson that the curtain slowly started to come down on his playing career. The seeds had been planted and he was beginning the road to a new area – coaching.

“After I appointed Ron as manager, we played a few games and then we had an away day at Leeds when we lost 3-0 in the March,” said former Coventry chairman Bryan Richardson.

“Ron was looking for a number two. We both decided to write three names down who we thought would be good for the job and we both put Gordon as our first choice.

“Then after that defeat to Leeds, I got a call on the Monday from Leeds chairman Leslie Silver. ‘Have you been tapping up Gordon?’ he said.

Straight away I said ‘no, if I wanted him I would do it properly and ring you, Leslie.’ “A few minutes later Ron rang me and said ‘I had a word with Gordon after the game and he’s keen on coming’. I then had to call Leslie Silver back, apologise, say how much we like Gordon as a footballer and ask if we could have him as Ron’s number two. After some negotiating we got him.”

Strachan arrived with the proviso that he would succeed Atkinson when he stepped aside. He was instrumental in keeping Coventry up that season as a coach, but when Atkinson became director of football the following November, Strachan’s one season as player/manager led to him turning back the clock in central midfield at the ripe old age of 38 and keeping Coventry up for another season.

“I knew all about Gordon because I knew Howard Wilkinson (the Leeds manager who had Strachan), so he had told me everything I needed to know,” said Richardson, who has remained good friends with his former boss and they play a round of golf together whenever they can.

“From the moment I met him personally I could just tell he had that quality about him that would make him a good manager. He is an extremely interesting, straight-talking guy. There’s nothing odd about him, he loves reading books on history, going to the cinema. It’s just because he’s a little Scotsman with red hair that everyone thinks he has to be watched carefully. He doesn’t really.

“It was extremely hard work at Coventry because we were always on the back foot. It could be quite depressing knowing that you were not fighting for first, second and third like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal. You were fighting to stay in the league.

“Gordon took that on, took it in his stride and not only did he keep us up for a number of seasons, he lifted us to 11th in 1998 which was unheard of for Coventry City.

“It was no fluke. His manmanagement style was fantastic. The players loved him. They knew where they stood with him, even though he didn’t suffer fools gladly.

“Take Noel Whelan; he was young lad and a tremendously talented boy, but he was not the most disciplined around.

Gordon took a shine to him, he took him under his wing and let him stay at his house for a while. Noel had a great season that year. That’s the kind of man-manager Gordon is.”

It is an indication of the trust built up between the chairman and Strachan that on the back of that success at Highfield Road, there was talk of a new, long term, contract for a manager whose stock was rising.

“This tells you a lot about Gordon. I always remember talking to him about a new contract which I felt he deserved,” said Richardson.

“He never dealt with an agent at that time, so he simply said ‘You draw it up and I’ll sign it Bryan’. He did.

“Now that might not seem that much of a big deal, but imagine that happening in football today. That is an indication of just how much faith he will show in you if there is trust there.”

Like all good things, Strachan’s time came to an end. Following relegation from the Premier League, Richardson was outnumbered on the Coventry board and the decision was made to sack him at the start of the 2001-02 season.

“It didn’t take him long to get back, though,” said his former chairman. “I recommended him to Rupert Lowe and he headed to Southampton.”

The Saints were struggling.

They had just sacked Stuart Gray when Strachan stepped in, lifted them from the bottom three and secured an 11th place finish. The following season was even better, ending eighth and runners-up to Arsenal in the FA Cup – which was enough to secure a place in the UEFA Cup.

Such success had him shortlisted for the Scotland job twice, but there is a sense that one day such a role will be his. “My first love is being a coach. The greatest enjoyment I have had is making players better,” he said. “When you become a coach you take an oath, just like a doctor does to make people better, a coach is the same. You don’t do it to make yourself better.

“I don’t liken myself to anyone else. I worked under Jock Stein, Billy McNeil, Howard Wilkinson, Ron, Sir Alex, and they have all been terrific. They all have different styles. Howard is completely different to Ron, Ron is completely different to anyone else on the planet. I have worked under so many but it has to be me that coaches in my own way.”

His experience at Southampton, where he was targeted by the boo-boys, was followed by 15 months out of the game. His deadpan humour and wise-cracks made him a respected TV pundit, but he always sensed he would be back – even if he claims that “he could live without it”.

He must have wondered why in his first few months after taking over at Celtic in 2005. The 5-0 defeat to Slovakian champions Artmedia Bratislava in Europe was followed by a 4-4 draw with Motherwell. His response to criticism, however, was to lead Celtic to a League and Cup double that year.

He left Parkhead in May this year, having been told he would not be given any extra money available for players after failing to follow up three consecutive Scottish Premier League titles with a fourth after reducing the wage bill.

Since leaving Celtic, he has returned for a testimonial game. Many of the supporters that had been muttering for his demise weeks earlier stood to attention and gave him a rousing reception.

Just like Sir Alex Ferguson all of those years ago, perhaps the Hooped part of Glasgow didn’t realise what they had until he had gone.

Middlesbrough will be hoping they do not make a similar mistake.