John McMaster insists Aberdeen’s management team of Barry Robson and Steve Agnew bear all the hallmarks of fellow Gothenburg Great Archie Knox.
Robson and Agnew have led a revival at Pittodrie after leading the team to five wins from their seven matches in charge.
Having spent time with the coaching team, who were last week put in charge of first team affairs for the rest of the season, McMaster cannot help but draw comparisons from his playing time at Pittodrie.
He said: “I met Barry and Steve Agnew at Cormack Park a few weeks ago and I loved hearing what they were saying.
“Speaking to him and Steve Agnew, they remind me of Archie.
“I went into his office and Barry said: ‘what do you want John?’, quite abrasively – and said he only had half an hour.
“Forty five minutes later we were still talking about football and I could see him and Steve listening, taking little things on board.
“The pair of them are really into their coaching, they love it.
“And that’s when I thought it was so like Archie, because he was like that.”
‘Robson’s getting his message across’
Knox will finally receive his medal for helping lead the team to European Cup Winners’ Cup glory against Real Madrid in 1983 – after being named as one of the recipients of six new medals created by Uefa following work by the club, Aberdeen FC Community Trust and ex-Pittodrie chief executive – and Uefa delegate – Duncan Fraser.
He joins manager Sir Alex Ferguson, midfielder Dougie Bell and the families of former chairman Dick Donald, vice-chairman Chris Anderson and kitman and coach Teddy Scott in receiving a medal following the 2-1 win in Gothenburg in 1983.
The six medals will be presented as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations at Pittodrie next month.
McMaster was one of the lucky 16 to receive their medal on the night of May 11, 1983 – and the Gothenburg Great says the current first team management team possess the same coaching qualities of the legendary Knox.
He said: “Archie always wanted to suck everything in and wanted to coach.
“I wish I’d been coached by Archie at 17, because I would have been an internationalist.
“Barry’s approach has been different to Jim Goodwin, he’s getting the result of that on the pitch.
“I don’t think they (the players) were listening before, but whatever Barry’s doing he’s got the message across.
“That’s part of what makes me think of Archie because he was brilliant at that.
“He’d stop you in training, ask why you were doing something, then show you a far simpler, more effective way of doing it.
“If you’ve got the message across clearly and players know what they’re doing, then you’re half-way there.
“Football is meant to be simple and you can see the players all have their instructions.”
Academy coaching experience has given Robson a platform for success
McMaster believes the glowing reputation the Aberdeen youth academy has in Glasgow shows the work behind the scenes at Cormack Park is paying dividends.
The 68-year-old believes the role played by Robson at youth level prior to being put in charge of the first team has given him a great grounding for the challenges of managing in the Premiership.
He said: “From what I’ve heard, Barry’s done a lot of impressive work with the academy.
“He’s had the under-age teams all playing the same way, the same system and they’re learning a lot.
“Barry has been able to do that with no pressure on him, serving his apprenticeship over quite a few years and that’s helped him cope with the pressure he’s under now.
“He’s got that background, that experience of being at Cormack Park and I think that has been important for him.
“Steve has been very important for him, you can see they work very well together. As a coach you want to improve players, that’s what you want to be known for.
“You don’t do it to be able to say: ‘I’m good at coaching’, because the proof is out there on the pitch.
“If you are someone capable of improving players, improving a team then everyone will see it.
“If you improve every player you can then the team gets better. Barry has done that over the last two months.”
- McMaster was speaking at Pittodrie on the launch of his autobiography McMaster and Commander. The Gothenburg Great will be at Pittodrie on Saturday at 11am to sign copies of his book in the club shop before the club’s home game against Kilmarnock. It can also be ordered at www.twostars.co.uk
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