by Thomas Hornall, Sports Editor
Strathclyde’s football team have been given a significant boost this year by acquiring the funding to hire a manager for the team. Filling the role is Andy Thomson a former QPR and Queen of the South striker.
Thomson enjoyed a long and successful career at a number of different clubs, which saw him hit 195 goals in 549 games. After retiring in 2008 he sought to remain in the football world and has since turned his attention to coaching. Having played under numerous managers at quality football clubs in a career that spanned 19 years Thomson has been there and done it and will look to deliver his experience and footballing philosophy into the heart of Strathclyde football.
Speaking with Thomson, I asked him to share with me his involvement with the team so far and his vision for the club.
“I’ve been training with the boys since around the start of August and they are a great bunch of lads with good attitudes who seem motivated, if you’ve got that in a team then you’ve always got a chance. The team has not had a coach before so I’m looking at this as more of a long-term project, I obviously want to improve the team and the individual players but I’m looking more at how to improve everything the football club does, now and in the future. I want us to be professional in how we conduct ourselves week in, and week out”
With Strathclyde sitting in the 3rd Scottish league the team will be hungry to do well, but in a competitive Scottish system this will prove a difficult ask.
“Our first BUCS game is against Glasgow University, so it’s a bit of a derby to start with but we’re looking forward to it. We will be strengthened by some new players this year, we had a fresher’s trial game and there looked to be some good talent. The priority for me this year is to do well in the league, but also change some things around at the club to help build it into a bigger force in the Scottish league and into a team that players will want to be a part of.”
Speaking about his time at Queen’s Park Rangers the ex-striker expressed his admiration for Ian Holloway, who now manages Crystal Palace in the premier league.
“Ian was a great man-manager who knew how to get the best out of his players, it’s all very well being a great tactician and having good training sessions but if you can’t treat your players properly then you’ll never get the best form out of them, that’s something I’ve learned playing all these years. Every footballer who goes into coaching knows that you will take little bits of each manager you played under to put into practice yourself, some managers are better than others but each has something different too.”
Andy Thomson was also the last Scottish player to score at the old Wembley, when he fired Gillingham to promotion in the division 1 play-off against Wigan.
“That was undoubtedly the best moment of my playing career, even just playing at Wembley was amazing so to score the winner was unbelievable, and it was a huge deal for me.”
With the new season underway Andy will look to make his mark on the team and begin to implement his changes around the club, he certainly has the credentials, experience and professionalism to get the results Strathclyde football will be looking for.
