Merry-go-round is spinning but who will Thompson ask to jump on the

WANTED: young, energetic manager who has cut his teeth in the lower divisions. Members of the Largs mafia need not apply.

Eddie Thompson, the new owner of Dundee United, did not use these precise words to describe the man he wants to replace Alex Smith at Tannadice. Nevertheless, they represented a summation of the qualities, as epitomised by his pursuit of Ian McCall, he wanted in his next manager. Being a footballing outsider himself, the convenience store magnate may have a healthy disregard for the jobs- for-the-boys mentality which pervades British football.

Although Sir Alex Ferguson, like most Scottish coaches, is a product of the Largs system, he has always been his own man and started at the bottom with East Stirlingshire before proceeding, like an express train, through St Mirren and Aberdeen to Manchester United. There may be only one Sir Alex, but in his unsuccessful efforts to lure McCall away from Falkirk Thompson signalled he was searching for a man with a single-minded, even idiosyncratic, approach to his work. A manager who might throw crockery in the dressing room or kick water bottles on the touchline.

Two men who, unfairly or otherwise, are regarded as being part of the mild-mannered Largs establishment are in interim charge at Tannadice. Paul Hegarty and Maurice Malpas may be excellent coaches, but neither have done anything thus far in their careers to persuade Thompson that their claims were superior to McCall's.

The pair now have a short period, which began yesterday with the match against Livingston, to prove Thompson wrong. But if the new owner decides to invest his faith in the Tannadice legends, the impression that will be left is that he has compromised his original wish to bring in a young manager from the lower divisions of Scotland or England.

Current managers in the Premierleague have arrived at their posts via a number of different routes. There are exceptions to the rule, but just as with Ferguson, the most successful managers and coaches tend to have learned their trade in more humble surroundings.

Martin O'Neill, who turned around Celtic's fortunes in his first season and took them on a Champions League adventure in his second, has had a classic rise up the managerial ladder.

The last 12 years have seen him progress from Wycombe Wanders through Norwich and Leicester to Celtic. His counterpart at Ibrox, Alex McLeish, had only had one unscheduled visit to the lower reaches. After failing to keep Hibs in the SPL after joining them from Motherwell in 1998, he had one season in the First Division, in which he led the Easter Road side to the title.

Craig Levein, the Hearts head coach, learned how to cope on shoestring resources at Cowdenbeath before moving to Hearts where the living, despite cost cuts, has been considerably easier.

Jim Jefferies, too, served his time with Berwick and Falkirk before moving to Hearts and Bradford en route to Kilmarnock. Jim Leishman has been there, done it, just about everywhere in Scotland with Dunfermline and Livingston. Ditto John Lambie at Partick Thistle and Hamilton.

Leishman's co-manager at the City Stadium, David Hay, has managed Celtic, but also St Mirren and Norwegian club Lillestrom.

Other Premierleague managers have not experienced the poverty of lower division life in the country of their employment.

Ebbe Skovdahl and Jimmy Calderwood arrived at Aberdeen and Dunfermline respectively in 1999, but prior to that had served in numerous overseas posts at different levels.

Jim Duffy cut his teeth at Dundee and Hibs with very different degrees of success; Bobby Williamson's first appointment was with Kilmarnock in 1996; Terry Butcher had a rough time in England with both Coventry and Sunderland before succeeding Eric Black last season as the man in charge of Motherwell.

Partick Thistle's Lambie, an elder statesman of the managerial game, believes that any aspiring Premierleague manager should have served at least a five-year apprenticeship before working at the top level.

In that respect, he points out that McCall was an ideal candidate to take over at Tannadice.

"Although Ian McCall is quite young, he has had all the experience he needs with Clydebank, Morton and Airdrie," Lambie says.

"The important thing when a club makes an appointment is that they should give the new manager a decent period of time to make a success of the job.

"In the case of Dundee United, I believe it will take a full three years to turn them around, although having said that I thought Alex Smith was doing a good job. If they had waited until the end of the season to see what he could do, it would have made more sense."

Lambie cites Steve Patterson, of Inverness Caley Thistle, as a First Division manager who has proved he has the ability to motivate players, while Ross County's Neale Cooper is another one-club manager with more than five years of knowledge in the bank.

"I still feel there is no substitute for experience," says Lambie. "The way Alex Ferguson did it was ideal - start at the bottom and work your way up. Martin O'Neill did it using that route as well."

Although he has coaching certificates himself, Lambie firmly believes that man-management and knowledge of how football and footballers operate is just as important, if not more so, than a coach's licence.

Rarely do top players transform immediately into top managers, even though Kenny Dalglish succeeded at Liverpool and Blackburn before his managerial career fell away. Graeme Souness was a successful player-manager with Rangers, but had at his shoulder the experience of Walter Smith.

"It's difficult," agrees Lambie, "especially for a player- manager. We had a few at Partick Thistle and it didn't work out."

Those managers from the lower divisions who have applied for the job at Tannadice - and there are several - will be hoping Thompson sticks to his earlier resolve to find a bright young man with fresh ideas. It is understood, though, that the new Dundee United owner is now leaning towards an internal appointment, depending on short-term results.

If Hegarty, who was player-manager at Forfar and a caretaker at Aberdeen, is successful, it will be yet another case of the managerial merry-go-round taking a spin with an established manager falling off and another who has already been on the circuit climbing on. Club chairmen seem increasingly loathe to take a risk with managers from the lower divisions, and instead opt for the tried and tested.

St Mirren took a gamble on Tom Hendrie when he was a part-time manager with Alloa, but although he took them up quickly to the SPL he couldn't maintain the success and was replaced by caretaker John Coughlin earlier this season. When he was appointed, Hendrie was regarded as a welcome departure from the list of usual suspects, but his demise confirmed the doubts of those who said he lacked experience.

When Thompson eventually decides who will replace Alex Smith there will be several disappointed up-and-coming managers.

McCall, on the other hand, has made himself all the more desirable to other Premierleague clubs by biting the hand that offered to feed him at Tannadice.

Managers moving up in the world John Connolly (Queen of the South) The Doonhamers finished mid-table in Second Division in 2000-01, Connolly's first season, then won the title last season. Finding it hard in Division One, but Connolly has a good record of 45 wins, 31 draws and 38 defeats in his 114 games in charge.

Neale Cooper (Ross County) Has done a fine job in Dingwall since becoming manager in 1996. Record shows 129 wins, 89 draws and just 76 defeats in 294 games and he guided County to the third division title in 1998-99 and they were promoted to First Division the next season.

Alan Kernaghan (Clyde) Although the player-manager has a record of eight wins, seven draws and eight losses from his 23 games since taking up the reins at Broadwood in March, he is highly regarded by his peers and a win against Queen of the South last Saturday took Clyde up to third in First Division.

Billy McLaren (Stranraer) Stair Park might be hard to reach for matches and training, but McLaren's overall record of 49 wins, 54 draws and 46 losses in 149 games stands up to scrutiny. Appointed in June 1999, and Stranraer went into yesterday's game second in Second Division.

Steve Paterson (Inverness CT) Appointed Caley manager in August 1995. Has won 140 of his 320 games, drew 91 and lost 91. Won Third Division title in 1996-97, and was promoted, behind Livingston, to First Division two season later. That win against Celtic is also on his CV.

Paul Smith (Berwick Rangers) Like Cooper and Patterson, another long-serving one-club manager who may feel he deserves a move. Took Rangers to a replay in last season's Scottish Cup, and won the Third Division title in 1999-2000. Record since appointment in 1997 is 80 wins, 78 draws and 68 defeats from 226 games.

Ian Wilson (Peterhead) Has led the Blue Toon's transition from the Highland League to Third Division, and has an overall record of 40 wins, 23 draws and 38 defeats from his 101 games in the last two and a bit seasons. Also took Peterhead to the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup in 2001.

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