SAINT

Saturday 5 November 2011

STEVE LOMAS isn't the first young, inexperienced manager to be given a chance by St Johnstone.

Custom byline text:

Nor will he be the last. Three times now the Perth club have cast an eye over the talent pool as they searched for a new manager and on each occasion elected not to go with someone who had been over the ground before. Lomas follows Owen Coyle and Derek McInnes as someone fairly new to the coaching game, with St Johnstone preferring to overlook more experienced figures to appoint someone they believe will be more hungry, more determined, and more willing to learn.

Both Coyle and McInnes made the most of that opportunity, eventually earning moves to bigger clubs down south, and the new St Johnstone chairman, Steve Brown, will view Lomas’ tenure as a triumph if he, too, ends up moving on to a more lucrative station in a few years. “A lot has been said about the old guard, the experienced managers, and I’ve heard all that before,” said Brown, who succeeds his father Geoff, who has stood down after 25 years in charge. “But most of them don’t have a job. There are a lot of qualities in an experienced manager but maybe they are sometimes also stuck in their ways. When you have a younger manager, or even an inexperienced manager, it’s about getting them into good habits from the start. “They’re hungry to succeed and the sky’s the limit for these guys. They have no preconceptions and nothing to distract them as it’s their first job and they know they’ve got to do well. They don’t want their cv to say, ‘first manager position – failed’.“If we have a Bristol City or a Burnley chapping on our door in a few years, then great – we’ll encourage that. That doesn’t mean the managers want to leave, it just means that they’ve probably been successful at St Johnstone. We understand this job is a stepping stone for most managers and we would never hold anybody back. Ambitious people shouldn’t just want to be manager of St Johnstone. They should look beyond that and we’re delighted to see Owen and Derek progress their careers. We wish them well.”Lomas was a surprise candidate for the vacancy given his background in youth coaching and non-league football, but Brown admits to have been blown away by the Northern Irishman’s enthusiasm and passion. “Steve speaks a lot about hard work which impressed us, and he’s very enthusiastic,” added the new chairman. “He’s a winner, too, and a leader. You don’t captain your country at 23 years old if you’re not a leader. His enthusiasm in the interviews was incredible, at times it was overwhelming. That’s what we want to see. “We didn’t want somebody coming in and just going through the motions, then going away home at 3pm. That’s not what we’re looking for. Steve is a character. He’s very likeable and approachable. Whether it’s a schoolkid or a businessman or a supporter – he can relate to them all.”Lomas’ appointment coincides with a change in policy at the club. Unlike Coyle and McInnes, who both lived in Renfrewshire and made the commute to Perth each day, Lomas will live in the area and will be expected to engage more with the community. Brown admits that is something the club has not done enough of in recent years. “We want a manager who can engage with the community and we see that as essential. Unfortunately, throughout the years, that has maybe slipped away. I wouldn’t say we had forgotten about our community or supporters but we’ve not been as active as we should have been. And we’ve got to get that back. Both the board and the management team have got to get into the community and become the focus of the community. Attendances aren’t fantastic, but there aren’t many other places in Perth getting the attendances that we get. So we’ve got to get back into the business world, into supporters groups and into schools to try to promote the club. We need to get an affinity back within the community and, hopefully, that will come back in future.”On a personal note, Brown, who has been on the St Johnstone board since 2004 and joined the Scottish Premier League board earlier this year, admitted he had mixed feelings about succeeding his father. “It’s a very proud day for me. Obviously, there’s a bit of sadness, too, with my father standing down given his emotional ties to the club, but he’s decided it’s time to bale out and I respect that. He feels that he shouldn’t continue on the board and wants to leave it to me and the two other directors. I’ve been effectively running the club on a daily basis for the last year and a half, along with our general manager, who we brought in. It’s not like I’ve just picked it all up this morning.”InTERVIEW New chairman makes a familiar kind of managerial appointment, writes Graeme Macpherson

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

SAINT

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED