Ex-Ross County boss Jim McIntyre admits work as a joiner shaped his career but wants to get back into football
The years McIntyre spent working as a joiner with his dad instilled a work ethic and determination he still has as he looks to find another job in management
HE proudly peers over Glasgow’s Kingston Bridge every time he drives across it.
Looks down on the luxury flats below and smiles.
Jim McIntyre thinks back to his time as a joiner, grafting long hours alongside his old man as his eager apprentice.
Happy days, he says to himself.
Back then, at 16, he had a dream of making it as a footballer.
That he’d be plucked from Duntocher Boys Club — where he was a tricky left winger — and be handed a pro contract in the game.
He did it, his work ethic and mentality giving him a playing career to be proud of.
As he looks down on the plush accommodation on the banks of the Clyde, it’s that same inner determination he carries with him today.
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Being out of work doesn’t come easily to any grafter. Jimmy Mac is no different.
He’s earned his way from the day he left school, the hard hat work-mates giving him a grounding that stays with him. Even as an unemployed manager.
McIntyre said: “From the age of 16 to 19 I worked with my dad as a joiner.
“If you look at the flats beneath the Kingston Bridge, I worked on them for three years.
“We did the rooms at Cameron House Hotel.
“We did first fix, going into the buildings as shells and putting all the walls up and all the rest of it.
“My old man was a really good joiner so it was great working alongside him. But I always had it in my head that I wanted to play.
“What you need is a bit of luck and I got it when I was offered the chance to go to Bristol City.
“Clydebank were interested at one point and I had trials for Hearts and Dundee United.
"But I was 19 and a joiner, living a builder’s lifestyle, when the opportunity came.
"I was probably partying a bit more than I should have been at that time. But I was determined to make the most of the opportunity.
“I went down in a heartbeat and signed right away, even though it was on less money than I was making as a joiner.
“Working as a joiner, though, was good for me.
“I remember Paul Sturrock at St Johnstone sending the players out to building sites to show them what real life was like. Well, I had that grounding.
“I see some boys now go into clubs straight from school and they think they’ve made it rather than just starting their apprenticeship.
“The message I’ve always tried to get into them is that they have got two years to try and nail a contract, rather than coming in with Louis Vuitton washbags.
“Grafting, and trying to improve, that is the mentality you need.
“But I still drive over the Kingston Bridge thinking about my days working on those flats.
“I worked alongside my dad and a guy from Ballieston called Stevie Latter. I often think about being on the roofs and doing the joinery.
“It was hard graft but I enjoyed it, there was good banter on the building sites and in a lot of ways it was no different from a football changing room.”
McIntyre longs to be back there. The changing room, that is.
It’s 10 months since he was ruthlessly sacked by Ross County, chairman Roy MacGregor waking up one morning seven games into the season and deciding it was time for a change.
It was truly a disastrous decision.
A mistake few could fathom with the club’s relegation from the Premiership underlining the madness of the judgement call to bullet both McIntyre and No2 Billy Dodds.
McIntyre has had time to think long and hard about it and there’s genuinely no bitterness in his voice when he talks about it.
He said: “Managers get less time than ever before, there’s no doubt about that.
“I always say to my chairman at the start of every season ‘What’s expected of me?’ and it’s important you have that conversation.
“You should be judged over the course of a season, not seven games. The way I look at it, I had three great years up there and every one of them was successful.
“From that side of things I look back on my time there fondly.
“I was very disappointed that Roy chose to change it. We had a brilliant working relationship and it was very hard when it happened.
“But I always tell people it’s his club, it’s his money. He gave me fantastic backing.
“What happened was that somewhere along the line he lost the trust in us to see the job out.
“He felt a change was necessary and I have to respect that decision, although I don’t agree with it.
“You have to quickly move on from that disappointment. That’s not easy. It’s difficult.
“But you have to put it to one side and move on.
“It also helps there’s been two changes of manager since, because it’s not my team any more. You’ve a loyalty to the players you signed, even when you leave.
“But I still speak to the ones I signed and still think about them.
“But for any manager who loses his job, you need to park it. I had a great three years and recognise what it was.
"I also recognise that fellow managers and coaches — and even you guys in the press — all have the same opinion about what happened.
"And it’s not often you get that in football. But to move on, personally, I need to look forward.
“I’m keeping myself active, I’m busy going to games and have kept in contact with my network of people — so I’m ready when that opportunity comes.”
It’s now just a waiting game, which isn’t easy.
He added: “I’m bored out my box if I’m being completely honest.
“I’m an active person and don’t enjoy sitting around the house. I have a dog, a Labrador, so I’m out with him first thing in the morning.
“I then have a couple of hours in the gym.
“I also chauffeur my daughter to school, although she’s started driving lessons so hopefully I will be able to get rid of that little cap I’m wearing!
“You just want to fill your day and I’m a firm believer in keeping to a routine, and keeping positive.
“I refuse to do the daytime TV thing, that’s just not me. I think Doddsy is partial to the Jeremy Kyle Show in the mornings, but I’m not at that stage yet.
“The first three months were great, I enjoyed the break. I went away a couple of times and enjoyed it.
“But January, I’ve been itching to get back in. You have to be patient.
“It’s really important you don’t just jump into the first job that becomes available because that can have a negative effect in the long term.
“The longer it goes you also can’t be too picky when it comes to the jobs you apply for.”
TOMMY BURNS was the man who convinced Jim McIntyre he could be a manager when he retired from playing.
The Celtic legend was his boss at Reading and made a lasting impression on him.
McIntyre said: “At Reading my last year was great, the first year blighted by injuries.
“Tommy then lost his job but he’s the reason I became a manager. He had such a knack of making you want to be better and that rubbed off on me.
“He was a fantastic coach and I learned loads off him. Alan Pardew took over from Tommy and he was great too, a very modern thinker.
“Tommy had a big influence on me. He knew how to talk to people without preaching to them, as a person or a player.”
McIntyre had a career to be proud of, playing at Bristol, Airdrie, Kilmarnock, Dundee United and Dunfermline.
He added: “I’d say I had a steady career, I was very lucky to play in some good teams.
“The Kilmarnock team we won the Scottish Cup with had some great pros in guys like Ray Montgomerie, Mark Reilly and Kevin McGowan.
“It was the same at Airdrie with the likes of Kenny Black, Sandy Stewart and Andy Smith.
“When I look back on my playing career the highlights are when you win something but I’d say Dundee United is where I played my most consistent football.
“We had a great bunch of boys with the likes of Jim Lauchlan, Derek Lilley, Del McInnes and Charlie Miller. I’d say he was the best player I ever played with.
“The wee man was a fabulous footballer, with the ability to drop it on a sixpence. He was such a clever player.”
THEY say you need to make up your mind early when you’re taking a penalty.
But Jim McIntyre spent a FORTNIGHT thinking about the one he will always be remembered for.
At Dunfermline he dinked a ‘Panenka penalty’ in a Scottish Cup semi-final clash with Hibs in 2007.
McIntyre said: “I made my mind up two weeks before. I just thought because they had a young goalie, Andy McNeill, he’d dive.
“I’d actually done it five times in my career — missing once in a reserve game for Airdrie when I thought John McVeigh was going to rip my head off.
"But I also did it for Airdrie against Nicky Walker in a shootout against Partick Thistle to get into the quarters of the Scottish.
“I scored but Alex MacDonald pulled me in afterwards and said ‘don’t you ever do that again,’ and I said ‘but I scored!’
“But I would never tell any player how to hit a penalty.
“I understand it doesn’t look too great if you dink it down the middle and the keeper stands still.
“But for me I always did my homework on the goalies and on that occasion I thought all I had to do was carry off the technique and I would score, which is what happened.
“It wasn’t about showing off, I just believed that the young goalkeeper would dive early.
“It’s funny because I’ve been watching the penalties and the World Cup and I hate it when they take a slow run-up.
“I would always sprint to the ball because generally the keeper moves when you sprint.
“But it’s all about the individual and how he thinks is the best way to score.
“Some boys just look terrified taking penalties. Jordan Henderson tried to hide it by doing keepy-uppies but you could see he wasn’t confident.
“A lot of people say it’s all about your bottle on the day but I’m a big believer in practising with repetition.”
McIntyre played in three Scottish Cup Finals during his career but it’s the one he missed out on in 2005 that still hurts.
The Dundee United striker scored in the semi-final against Hibs but a booking meant he missed out on a Hampden showdown against Celtic.
He added: “My biggest disappointment was missing out on the cup final against Celtic through suspension. That was a dull one to take.
"I remember going into the loo in the dressing room after the semi-final and I don’t mind admitting there were a few tears.
“I was sitting down and Derek McInnes asked me if I was alright and I said that I was fine. I was buzzing for the boys but I was also gutted.
“We were a goal down to Hibs, I then scored and then Jason Scotland scored the winner. It wasn’t until the whistle blows that you think ‘I’m out of the final.’
“I’d said to the referee, Mike McCurry, before the game too, I told him I was on a booking.
"But what happened was their keeper Simon Brown came sprinting out his box for a ball I was chasing.
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“I realised at the last second I wasn’t getting it so jumped up and turned my back, and we clattered into each other.
“But then he got up and wanted some confrontation. We squared up to each other and Mike just booked us both.
“It was a foul on him because I got there slightly late but it was a sickener.
“I’d played in two cup finals previously and knew what I was about to miss.
“The day of the game was brutal, sitting in the stand when everyone else was walking out on to the pitch.”