Charlie Mulgrew has recalled how his passion for coaching was ignited during Ronny Deila’s spell in charge of Celtic — as he watched the Norwegian tactician attempt to bring his “philosophy” to Scotland.
And the Dundee United veteran insists he is thrilled to be given the opportunity to put his own ideas into action at Tannadice.
Mulgrew, 36, is currently combining his playing duties with working on the staff alongside boss Liam Fox, assistant Stevie Crawford and the experienced Dave Bowman.
While still relatively young, the former Scotland defender is adamant his progress has been years in the making — having attained his ‘B’ Licence at 30.
“To step up and use my voice is something I’m really passionate about,” says Mulgrew of his new duties.
And he still remembers when the penny dropped.
Deila arrived at Celtic and orchestrating sessions of tactical complexity; obsessed with attacking football. Everything was geared towards possession, pace and efficacy, as Mulgrew recalls. No compromise.
“Ronny had a style and a way of playing,” said Mulgrew. “Philosophy is probably the right word because he saw the game a certain way and was adamant on it.
“I really started to think: “How would I do this? What would it look like?”
“Two years earlier? I wouldn’t have given it a second thought! I’d go onto the grass, see the balls laid out, say “what are we doing?” and did it.
“It’s only now that I think back and go, “ah, so that’s why we did this or that”.
“Whether it was about Ronny Deila, or just the time of my life, I don’t know.”
He added: “It’s a different way of looking at the game and thinking about training sessions. Why are they put on a certain way? What is the reason for this or that? I’ve been thinking that way for years now.”
Chess
Mulgrew is quick to point out that coaching is not restricted to drawing up sessions or barking orders on the training pitch.
His role within Fox’s set-up is flexible — he remains a key player, after all — and firmly in keeping with an ever-changing, evolving sport.
“It can be looking at clips; considering how we improve within what the manager wants from the team; staff meetings,” says Mulgrew.
“For example, on Thursday, after two hard days of training in a row, it was a bit of down day for me — so was a chance to coach the back-five and put my ideas across to them.
“Every manager is focused on tactics and studying the opposition, now. There is so much work on how can we hurt the opposition. It is like chess. There’s much more data and access to information.
“And if every team is doing that then you can’t get left behind. You won’t get away with not doing that work.”
Authentic
Mulgrew now finds himself in the peculiar position of fighting for a first-team berth, while being part of the coaching staff responsible for crafting strategies and picking the starting 11.
So, has the rapport with his United teammates changed?
“I’m just trying to help as much as I can,” continued Mulgrew. “I’m learning on the job and trying to be an authentic version of myself.
“It’s still the same relationship with the players because I consciously thought: “Right, is this going to change?”
“The best way I could think of to make sure it didn’t was to be me — the same person I’ve always been in the dressing room.”
Hibs test
United head to face Hibs seeking to bounce back from last weekend’s 2-0 defeat against Rangers — a result which ended a three-match unbeaten run since the Premiership resumed in the aftermath of the World Cup.
“A lot of the team shape was good (against Rangers) and, naturally, you pick at some of the positives,” said Mulgrew.
“But we also look at the things that could be better within our gameplay and the way we want to work. We’ll continue to do that.”
