Dundee United manager Ray McKinnon can pass his Tannadice test with top marks, according to the SFA’s head of coaching education Donald Park.
It was Park who helped McKinnon graduate from star pupil studying the game into someone who would teach the country’s coaches as a technical development officer with the governing body.
The pair worked together at the SFA until McKinnon decided to leave what was an attractive and relatively stable job in October 2012 to branch out as a manager in the rather less secure world of Scottish senior football.
He already had experience as gaffer of junior side Lochee United and was joining a fine, established club in the form of Brechin City.
However, Park insists it was still a bit of a gamble for the former United, Nottingham Forest and Aberdeen midfielder to head to Glebe Park.
With McKinnon now embarking upon the considerable challenge of reviving the fortunes of United in the Championship, his old SFA colleague believes he has all the attributes to succeed.
Park said: “Raymond and I worked together and we were a real partnership.
“When I first saw him out on the training pitch I could see that he has had a terrific upbringing in the game.
“We were looking for someone at that time to come into the SFA and he was the obvious choice.
“It was also good for him to get a job like that one.
“However, his ultimate aim was always to be a manager in the senior game and he has done well at every club he has been at.
“I firmly believe that he is building his career on solid foundations.
“He has learned all the skills and all the hassles at a smaller club, moved on to a bigger one and then ended up somewhere like Dundee United, which is fantastic.
“I am delighted for him.
“He has been on a journey and I hope he continues to find success. I think he will.”
He believes that had McKinnon stayed at the SFA he would have gone on to take his own job, masterminding courses like the UEFA A Licence assessment programme taking place at St Andrews this week.
“It was a gamble for him to leave the SFA when he did because he had a good job here,” added Park.
“Indeed, Raymond could have continued to work with us and gone on to eventually take my role.
“That was how I saw his coaching career progressing naturally if he stayed at the SFA.
“Going to manage at Brechin was a more of a challenge for him and it was a brave career move.
“I think he is definitely the right choice for United.
“It is another big challenge for him and you only have to look at the other teams in that league to see that.
“But I think he will relish that challenge.”
Park believes McKinnon has a right mix of approachability and an ability to make smart decisions.
“He is a bright boy and when I saw him coach within our environment at the SFA I saw that he was great with those who were on the courses,” he said.
“It was obvious that he was a top coach.
“He is a thoughtful and astute guy who sees what is happening in a game and can make appropriate changes to make an impact on a match.
“I think United fans will see that come through quite quickly when the season starts.
“That is one of his strengths.
“Another strength is man management and all the best managers have that now.
“Players are more difficult to deal with than in the days when some would say it was slave labour!
“Players are so powerful that you need to be clever as a coach to deal with that.
“What he obviously needs to do is get the players that will help him compete because United have lost a few but I am sure he will have been working on that.”
