Neil McCann candidly admits there will be people thinking he is “off his head” after swapping Sky Sports security for one of the most precarious jobs there is – that of football manager.
The 42-year-old stunned the Scottish game on Thursday night when it was announced he was the new permanent boss of Dundee.
Just three days before, the club had issued a statement saying that after a successful stint as interim boss, he was returning to his full-time job as a Sky Sports pundit.
However, following a dramatic change of heart, McCann has now left the comfort of the TV studio sofa to take over in the Dens hot-seat.
He insists though, that having made the life-changing decision, he is 100% committed to becoming a success as Dundee boss
McCann said: “I just came to a decision it was too good an opportunity to turn down, it really was.
“It is a precarious position being a football manager. I’ve no doubts about that but I’ve no fears of that.
“If you go into something with a bit of fear, you can get consumed by it. It’s one of the quotes that I stuck up on the wall: ‘The biggest barrier to success is the fear of failure’.
“If you have that, somebody will sniff it out. You will not go into it full-hearted.
“Yes, with the security of Sky, people say I must be off my head. I’m not off my head. This is a great opportunity and Sky have been brilliant with me.
“I understand that people might think I’ve taken a crazy decision to step away from that. I’ve not. I worked hard at that. You can easily fall flat on your face on live television.
“I’m coming into this (football management) with the focus and drive that I want to be successful.”
He added: “I’ve had conversations with my Sky bosses and they’ve been great. Not to over egg it but they were so supportive for me to come out of the contract to go into the job in the first place and they’ve been that way again.
“I think they understand when they’re recruiting their pundits we are proper football guys, we’re passionate about the game and they absolutely knew that once I came into this and got a taste for it I might want more.
“That’s how it’s turned out.
“I go with their blessings and I go into a new job, a big challenge ahead but I honestly can’t wait to get started.”
During his five games in charge as interim boss, McCann’s mantra was constant that he would be returning to Sky at the end of his stint at Dens.
However, the lure of taking over as Dark Blues boss ultimately proved too strong to resist.
He said: “I was always intending to go back to Sky and I think that’s been pretty constant.
“That’s why the statement went out and I was fully committed to going and continuing my career in broadcasting because it’s a very good job, it’s a brilliant job and you know the club could have taken a different route.
“But I always felt as though they made me feel I was No.1 in their mind and John (managing director Nelms) said that to me.
“The decision has been a really difficult one but my goodness, it was two good choices and I’ve spoken to various people who said you’ve not really got a bad choice to make and they are right.
“This is a very attractive job and I’d be pretty ignorant person if I thought I was the only guy that had been spoken to.
“I’m pretty sure there would have been a long list of quality names wanting this job but the dialogue was always there.
“John always knew, even though I said I had to go back to Sky, there might have been a wee thing at the back of my mind that I could change and come and be the Dundee manager.
“That’s how it turned out.”
