JACKIE McNAMARA didn't want to be there.

Not leading his team out the Hampden tunnel, not standing on the sidelines encouraging them, not celebrating on the pitch at full-time, not lifting the trophy or travelling on the open-top bus in front of thousands of cheering fans. All of these things could happen to the Dundee United manager tomorrow and as recently as a decade ago he didn't want for any of it.

There are some players who know from an early age that they are destined for a career in management. McNamara wasn't one of them. He had been part of a hugely successful Celtic team, won the league four times, the Scottish Cup three times and the League Cup the same again. Came on as a substitute in the UEFA Cup final in Seville. Won 30-odd Scotland caps. He certainly had the experience to move into coaching but, as one of the quieter members of the Celtic squad, it wasn't something that hugely appealed.

It was only in the latter years of his career that he began to have second thoughts. What if this was for him after all? The change of heart was motivated by both the positives and the minuses he had experienced as a player. What if he were to try to take the best things he had learned under his various managers and combine them with the things he felt should be handled differently? Could that prove a winning formula?

So far the answer seems to be very much yes. McNamara is still a young manager - only 41 - but he is already showing great potential. An early promising stint in charge of Partick Thistle, whom he led to the brink of promotion, has been followed by steady progress at Dundee United. A Scottish Cup final loss to St Johnstone last year, and now this, a League Cup final at Hampden against his former club, Celtic. It almost seems hard to believe that it nearly never happened at all.

"Some players don't want to be managers and I was one of them when I was playing, believe it or not," he admitted. "But when I got to 31 or 32 it kind of changed for me. You start to see things differently and think about what you might do differently. Working with so many good managers and people you take wee things from all of them. It changed for me as when I got older I saw how I would do things differently. How I would treat the players, treat different situations, do training, everything. I think that's how I've tried to do things as a manager; how I'd like to be treated, how I would like training to go, how I would like the players to be told if they were going to be left out - things that possibly didn't happen to me."

McNamara would rather be out there playing tomorrow. Most managers would say the same. But there is a part of him that would savour the upset - if United could pull it off - even more than the 10 trophies he collected as a player. He will have earned it more, too.

"I'd rather be playing on Sunday than managing to be honest with you, 100%. But this is the next big thing, kicking every ball, trying to keep cool, challenging every decision...it's difficult. You're putting so much into it. There are the sleepless nights, you have thoughts in your head. You wake up thinking about formations. You're thinking about who you've got available. You never stop. Although you go home and you're sitting about, your mind is constantly active.

"As a player you would prepare only yourself. But now I'm almost like a father figure to certain individuals. It can be rewarding when you have these moments. Sunday would be very special for me to have these moments with the players and to have that feeling with them."

McNamara, presumably, has made a lucrative career from being a footballer but it is not the bank statements he will remember when he finally gives up the game. He hopes his players will similarly seize the moment tomorrow.

"I've been fortunate enough to win a lot of things in my playing career and it's a great feeling. The players go into Sunday as massive underdogs but they have a chance to go down in the history books. Medals and the like - for me that's what it's all about. Not the other side of things, the money and everything that goes with it. It's medals that you can show your kids. It's memories and being part of something special. The players have the disappointment of last May [losing the Scottish Cup final] but they've got a chance to put that right on Sunday."