Latest news with #GordonStrachan
The Courier
8 hours ago
- Sport
- The Courier
Why Dundee appointed Steven Pressley
Steven Pressley is Dundee's new head coach. The final two words in that sentence are important. He comes after manager Tony Docherty, after manager Gary Bowyer and every other manager appointment under the stewardship of the Keyes family. Dundee chief John Nelms is determined to take the club in a new direction; to institute a 'new philosophy' as technical director Gordon Strachan put it. So what does that actually mean? Pressley is well known throughout Scottish football after a successful top-level playing career that took in Rangers and Coventry City early on before significant spells at Dundee United and Hearts, where he became club captain and lifted the Scottish Cup. A spell with Celtic under Gordon Strachan brought a top flight title and Scottish Cup win before heading to Denmark with Randers FC and finishing his playing days at Falkirk. There he got his first taste of management. Despite being unable to keep the Bairns in the top flight in his first few months, Pressley was snapped up by Coventry City after three years in the job. A positive start amid administration and a points deduction would lead to a four-year contract extension. However, Pressley was sacked five months later with the club in the League One relegation zone. Since then he has had short spells as a scout at Southampton, then managerial jobs at Fleetwood Town, Cypriot side Pafos and League Two Carlisle United. Carlisle was his last job as a manager in 2019, with only his first role at Falkirk bringing a win ratio higher than 40%. Pressley was a leader as a player and is one of the most experienced managers of the candidates looked at, even if his last job ended six years ago. However, it is his more recent time behind the scenes at Brentford that set him apart. At the Premier League outfit, Pressley was head of individual development. That final word – development – has been repeated time and again in the short time since the announcement. 'Steven has spent the last four years at English Premier League Club Brentford and brings with him a shared core value of player development and a rounded approach to winning football matches,' said Nelms in Monday's statement. Looking too deeply into the words of these things can be a fool's errand. However, it should be noted that 'player development' came before 'winning football matches'. Dundee's new philosophy is not only about winning the next game but creating better footballers who can then be sold on. Whether that is using their own academy, which has been a great success in recent seasons, or through buying up young players from elsewhere. At Brentford, Pressley's specific job was to monitor the development of the Premier League club's high potential players, working closely with individual stars to find out what they needed to succeed. Pressley told Sky Sports in November: 'I work with four of our younger first-team players and two of the most talented B team players. 'I just work strategically on the plan for them moving forward in all aspects of their development from being on the grass to analysis to nutrition to sports science. 'I oversee all aspects of development.' His task at Dundee will be to put all he learned in four years under Thomas Frank to use at Dens Park. He will, though, be judged by the club's fanbase on winning games of football. Harshly, too, if the furious reaction to his announcement is anything to go by. Pressley will be joined by David Longwell as technical manager, who has significant experience in academy coaching at St Mirren, Orlando City, New York Red Bulls, Shrewsbury Town and Dundee's partner club Burnley. There will also be a new head of recruitment to come in, working alongside Billy Kirkwood in a revamped recruitment team. It is understood recruitment will be done in a more collective manner than under previous managers. It won't be down to just the 'manager' to scout and sign players as it has been previously. Pressley will have his say on every player coming in, however. Longwell will also have responsibility within the first-team coaching setup, though Pressley is expected to appoint a No 2 as well as other coaches. The various responsibilities of a 'manager' will now be split up between different roles. The aim of that will be to allow the head coach to focus far more on what happens on the park, while the technical manager can concentrate much more on individual player needs. Once the framework is in place, the head coach role will be focused on the here and now, with the technical manager looking to the future. It is a new era at Dundee – the big question is, will it work?
BBC News
12 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Dundee fans 'All Shook Up' - but Pressley brings 'vast experience'
When Tony Docherty was sacked with the dust barely settling on a disappointing Premiership campaign, few Dundee fans who would have thought they would be uttering the phrase 'Elvis has entered the building' just a few weeks the time of the departure of Docherty - and his backroom staff - the club stated their intention to "restructure the football department".Giving Steven Pressley the title of head coach, rather than manager, and the creation of a new technical manager position, which will be occupied by David Longwell, definitely projects the look that things will be different going social media is anything to go by, the appointment of Pressley has left a large number of the Dundee support 'All Shook Up'. But if the new regime can hit the ground running, it could be a case of 'Loving You'.Apologies for the rather predictable Elvis song there will be some who will point to the fact Pressley has been away from the Scottish game for more than a decade, plus he has not held a managerial role anywhere since leaving Carlisle United six years there can be no doubt Pressley is bringing vast experience to Dens he will also have a knowledge of the English market, particularly with regards to some potential young talent coming through the ranks south of the border. That knowledge could prove invaluable as Dundee look to strengthen their also played under Dundee technical director Gordon Strachan at Celtic, so the ex-Scotland boss will be well aware of the qualities his former player can bring to this is not about the past. The success or failure of any appointment is determined by results - and ultimately that is what Pressley and co will be judged on going forward.
BBC News
13 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Dundee appoint Longwell in new player development role
As well the arrival of Steven Pressley as head coach, Dundee have "taken this period to restructure the football department" by appointing David Longwell as technical Dens Park club say the former St Mirren, Burnley and New York Red Bulls academy coach will be "part of the coaching staff with a specific focus on player development". On the arrival of Longwell, managing Director John Nelms said: "David comes to us with a long and productive history in the development of players both north and south of the border."Player development has always been at the forefront of our club, and with the amount of young emerging talent, it is important that the restructuring of the football department will emphasise this even more. "His main role will be working alongside technical director Gordon Strachan and head coach Steven Pressley to ensure the concentrated development of individual players. David will also have additional roles within the first team set-up."
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Sport
- Scotsman
Ex-Celtic and Scotland boss Strachan will always be a Hibee at heart
Former Man United, Leeds and Aberdeen great on bus journeys and schoolboy sing-alongs Sign up to our Hibs football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... For a man who never wore the jersey, save for a couple of guest appearances in testimonials to honour time-served veterans, Gordon Strachan's Hibernian heart remains an important element of his character. The things he's done in football and in life can, according to the man himself, be traced back to schoolboy days riding on the upper deck of the No.16 bus, belting out Hibs songs with his pals as they made the journey from Muirhouse to Easter Road. First taken to one of Scottish football's most iconic old grounds by dad Jim, the son was able to repay the favour more than once over next few decades. Including, in a tale familiar to anyone who understands the game's ability to unite generations, a final visit just four weeks before his father's death. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad How deep is his affection for the club? Well, even when following his dream as an aspiring professional, Strachan made time to visit Tynecastle for one very special derby win back in 1973. And he still considers David Gray's Scottish Cup-winning goal at Hampden in 2016 as one of his most enjoyable moments in football. When you consider the domestic and European glories he enjoyed in a playing career that took him from Dundee to Aberdeen, Manchester United and Leeds, not to mention the triumphs he masterminded as Celtic manager, that's quite the distinction. 'I owe a lot of who I am to the people of Leith,' said the former Scotland boss, adding without hesitation: 'When I was getting brought up, whether I be younger, whether I be older, I owe where I am right now to these people. 'My first memories of Easter Road? Going with my dad. I went to see Aberdeen, Hibs against Aberdeen. I think it was a tournament, it wasn't actually a league, it was a kind of, I don't know what it was. I remember Charlie Cooke playing for Aberdeen, I think. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'So that was it. My gran used to live just round the corner from Easter Road. But I used to go there, when I was younger. 'On a Saturday, I'd make it for the end of the second half really, or just the end of the second half, where the gates would open. I used to be at Leith Links a couple of times. 'I'd play there and just run up with me and my mates and get in, because the gates would open and you'd get in for nothing. Or you'd get a lift over with some fella. 'In those days, you'd get a lift over and that was it, you'd go in for nothing. So that was my introduction.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Easter Road 'Cow Shed' antics and Tynecastle derby glory Recalling his afternoons in a covered area of the north terracing familiar to fans of a certain generation, Strachan – speaking in partnership with Esports Insider - added: 'So when I used to go there, we went to a bit called the Cow Shed. I was in the middle of it at first, opposite the main stand there. I kind of upgraded myself to the Cow Shed, doing a bit of singing. 'Not got a clue what I was singing about, no understanding what I was singing about. And you look back and go: 'What were you thinking about?' But I didn't know at the time. 'I used to get number 8 or the 16 bus to the game. That was the bus from Muirhouse. 'Did what boys did. Got on the top deck, sat at the front, started singing songs again. And made your way to the game.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad David Gray's 'emotional' Scottish Cup winner a special favourite Signed by Dundee as a schoolboy, Strachan moved from supporter to player. With the rare exception of the lucky few who get to sign for 'their' team, this usually means a severing of allegiances. Up to a point. 'When I started professional football, I kept the link,' he insisted. 'But it was more a link with Leith. I probably speak more about Leith much more than I speak about Hibs. 'But f you ask me about the history of any of the Hibs players between 1965 and 1972, I've got a great knowledge of it. But after that, when I was playing professional football, I still went to the 7-0 win at Tynecastle with my mates! 'When I got into the first team at Dundee, that was it. I took it professionally. I always hoped the Hibs did well, but the club I was working for at the time, that was the main thing. So that was it really. I kind of downed tools as Hibs fan. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'But I still look back at 2016 and one of the best occasions I've ever been involved in. When they won the Cup, I was there as a pundit and it was emotional, to say the least. 'My father had passed away recently, and I thought: 'What a time to go dad, you could have seen a cup win at last!' So it was quite emotional. 'I took my father to his last game four weeks before he died, a Hibs and Hearts game just before he died. So he took me to my first game, and I took him to his last game. It was quite ironic that. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I think of myself as from Leith. I'm proud of Edinburgh, but I think of myself from Leith. So anything that's happened in Leith, I still go to the community centre there with my cousin, Pauline, who runs the Leith community centre. 'I still go there. Me and my wife kind of help out now and then. My mum still helps out with stuff. 'I still go to Silverknowes Golf Club, I was there last week talking to the old guys and having a chat. So it's still a big part of my life, really.'
The Courier
3 days ago
- Sport
- The Courier
JIM SPENCE: Does anyone know what Gordon Strachan Dundee 'philosophy' comments mean?
It sounds like big things are expected of Dundee's next manager, but is anyone clear as to what they are? Technical director Gordon Strachan says there'll be a new philosophy at Dens, but what that means is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Having shipped goals like a sieve last season, does it mean the team will be much less cavalier in attack and much more defensively astute? And if keeping the team in the Premiership, albeit narrowly, wasn't sufficient to save Tony Docherty's job, what targets have been set for his replacement (the Dark Blues' third boss in four years)? If Doc's results fell short of the standard expected, as the club said, just what standards are acceptable? Presumably, the expectations will be clearly outlined to the new manager, and the extent of them may have a bearing on which candidates fancy the job. It's one thing setting ambitious and exacting standards; it's another to provide the resources to allow a manager to meet them.
