Dundee North End title success gave me same buzz as EPL promotion as 2 key influences named by Kevin McNaughton

There's an iconic picture of Kevin McNaughton from his Cardiff City days.

He’s being held aloft by a heaving sea of bodies. Fists clenched in celebration after the Bluebirds’ promotion to the Premier League had sparked jubilant scenes on the pitch. At that moment, he couldn’t have been happier. Fast forward 11 years to now.

A quick scroll down the Facebook page of Junior side Dundee North End will unearth more images of McNaughton celebrating. This time it has nothing to do with Premier League riches. There’s no prospect of visiting Old Trafford or Anfield. No, this is just a bunch of boys with beers in hand – enjoying a club’s first league title in almost three decades. But you know what? McNaughton’s facial expression – and his beaming smile – are exactly the same. Because in essence it’s still football, isn’t it? The joy of winning.

And after everything the former Scotland star has gone through, it’s no wonder he’s savouring every last second of it. McNaughton took himself out of the game altogether a few years ago. Struggling to come to terms with life after the end of a pro career, his mental health suffered badly. The pain of a dodgy hip made the simplest of tasks a daily grind.

At one point there were concerns for his safety when he’d gone missing after worrying online posts were spotted by loved ones. Now the 41-year-old takes a day at a time. As co-manager of Dundee North End with pal Lewis Toshney, he has found a happy place again.

After hip surgery he’s moving freely once more. And since securing a Junior title as a gaffer McNaughton now sees a future in coaching.

In an exclusive interview with MailSport , he said: “I feel great within my own head now. I still need to manage myself, it’s not something that has just gone away. And I can still get myself in a mess sometimes, if I get caught up in stuff.

“But overall it has been really good. Football has definitely helped – it has been a release for me. I’ve actually enjoyed playing again as much as the coaching side. Getting a kick-about for an over-35s team has been brilliant. I missed it.

“I would try to stay involved by training but my hip was in bits. It was getting me down, not being able to move properly. Now I can take part with the boys to keep me ticking over.

“It feels like I’ve got a new lease of life and the hip replacement has definitely been a factor. Before I could barely get my shoe on in the morning.

“Although it’s a physical thing it takes its toll mentally. I used to go for a run and it would swell up for two days afterwards. That gets to you after a while. Everything became a chore and it was becoming too much for me.

“For a while I had given football a total swerve. I was coaching at Dundee but due to circumstances I decided to leave football. I took a break from it because I just had too much going on in my family life.

“But I got the same buzz out of winning this title with Dundee North End as I did winning promotion with Cardiff to the Premier League. The exact same. It has been tough but I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Keeping busy is the key thing for McNaughton. As well as playing, training and managing at North End he also has a full-time job in patient transport at Ninewells Hospital.

He has a college course on the go to give him an extra qualification and, to top it off, he got married last year. Life is good for the ex-Aberdeen and Cardiff full-back. He said: “At Ninewells I work three or four-day weeks, which helps in terms of juggling the football.

“I used to love painting but I haven’t had time to do that between football, the job and my kids. I’ve had to park that, it’s one thing that has probably suffered. The college work is tough because I’m writing essays for the first time in 20 years.

“But I want to be busy. This year has totally disappeared, I can still remember the first game of the season like it was yesterday. I got married last year so it’s been a busy 18 months. But it’s been great.

“This season has woken me up to the fact that I could get back into professional football. On Tuesday I’m away for a week to Turkey and I just want to get drunk and watch the kids running about daft.

“Then I’ll be back at it. Me and Tosher are signed up for next season, we’re going to have another crack at it. We’re in the qualifiers for the main Scottish Cup as we won the league so that’s exciting. It’s the first time the club has been involved in it.”

McNaughton worked under various managers during a 20-year playing career which yielded four caps for Scotland. But as he embarks on a managerial career with former Dundee, Raith Rovers and Dundee United defender Toshney, he cites the likes of Ebbe Skovdahl and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as influences.

And in terms of what type of coach he is, he just wants players to enjoy working under him. He said: “We like having a laugh with the boys who come and enjoy themselves. But at the same time we’ve tried to do it really professionally.

“Both of us want to keep the same standards we had as pros. Management has been enjoyable. But the coaching side of it is my forte.

“The only training sessions I put on are the ones I enjoyed as a footballer. If there was something I felt I benefited from, I’ll use it.

“I worked under a mixed bag of managers. I had spells under guys like Skovdahl and Solskjaer who are both Scandinavians. I enjoyed their approach because they pushed the boundaries in terms of athleticism.

“I remember Ebbe at Aberdeen bringing in Olympic-style weightlifting when I was 16 or 17. It’s par for the course now but it was radical back then. I remember older guys at 32 saying, ‘What’s going on here?’.

“But it helped me. I managed to get 500 games in my career so in terms of fitness that’s what has seen me through. I’m paying the price now, right enough. My body falls to bits after an over-35s game! But I’m just loving being back out there.”