Hamilton Accies manager Martin Canning has been seeking a replacement for himself ever since he hung up his boots to take over from Alex Neil when the latter was lured to Norwich City in January, 2015.
Canning was only 33 at the time but swiftly discovered that he could not combine playing with coaching and since then many have tried and failed to fill the void he left. Georgios Sarris, Xavier Tomas, Jesus Garcia Tena, Lucas Tagliapietra and Alex Gogic have all been tried and found wanting.
Finally, though, Canning believes that he has identified the man to provide the leadership and advice he used to dole out to his fellow defenders.
Matt Kilgallon, 34, had made 386 appearances for eight clubs down south, plying his trade from the Premiership to League One, where he played for Bradford City last season.
“All summer I was looking for a stereotypical dominant British centre-back with experience who can talk, organise and help the younger players as well,” said Canning.
“Matt was in that mould and we were speaking to him for over a month. He wasn’t sure what was happening with his situation so we had to work through different issues, which can make it difficult to get deals done.
“But the important thing was that Matt was committed to coming up here, which was pleasing. It’s a fresh challenge for him and, having played at a good level down south, it’s a new experience for him to play in different stadiums against different players and come up against a different type of football.
"No disrespect to the boys who have done well for us in the past but we wanted a British-style defender who can talk and organise a little bit more. I’m probably the last guy of that type to have played in that position here. We’ve been looking for that all summer and we had to wait until the last minute but Matt was the only one we really pursued.
“We were offered many others who were experienced but didn’t fit the bill for one reason or another. Our desire to get Matt up here and his desire to come got the deal done.” Kilgallon will make his debut at Livingston on Saturday.
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