Andy Considine is ready to build towards his new goal of becoming a manager after embracing his new roles on and off the pitch.
The former Aberdeen defender called time on his career in the summer after his contract expired at St Johnstone.
But Considine’s love affair with the game continues after returning to the Dons as lead coach of the under-16s in the club’s youth academy.
Coaching is a whole new ball game for 37 year-old but a challenge he is relishing.
He said: “I’ve made it clear I would like to go into football management and test myself as much as possible over the next number of years but right now I’m just trying to learn my trade.
“I see it as I’m starting afresh in football all over again as coaching is so different to actually playing the game.
“I look at the games so differently since doing my coaching badges.
“I’ve done my B and A licence and will hopefully start my Pro Licence in the summer which people see as a must if you want to get any sort of manager’s job.
“Being in the academy helps me in that sense as it’s a professional environment coaching three nights a week with a game on a Sunday so there is plenty exposure to coaching.
“It’s a club I will always hold close to my heart and being able to be part of it in a coaching sense and pass on my experience, and hopefully help squeeze out the next half a dozen for the 18s and then the first team.
“I know the percentage who make it is small but I’m working with Paul Coutts and Mark Emslie which is hugely exciting.
“I’ve been busy for 20 plus years of my life and always had a routine so I know I needed to get back into it.”
‘My body wasn’t reacting as well as it was’
The decision to call time on his career was a difficult one but Considine believes it was time to listen to his body after two decades of top-flight football.
He said: “In the weeks leading up to the last game of last season against Motherwell I had many discussions with my wife and felt my body wasn’t reacting as well as it was three or four years ago.
“It was taking a while to recover after games and there was the travelling up and down the road which was tough.
“I didn’t fall out of love with football but I was coming away from games knowing myself I wasn’t able to turn as quick as I could – not that I was ever that fast or super mobile.
“I was becoming even more critical of myself so I knew it was time to step away.
“At the same time I had part of me which hoped maybe someone in the Championship would pick up the phone and try to change my mind.
“I would have been open to hearing them out but as time went by I knew I was ready to move on and I’m fine with that.”
Considine never feared door had closed on a return to Aberdeen
Changes at the youth academy at Cormack Park presented Considine with the chance to return to the club he served with distinction for 18 years and he is delighted to be back in the fold.
Fans were divided when Considine left the Dons two years ago after former manager Jim Goodwin withdrew a contract but the Aberdonian insists he has always remained on good terms with club.
He said: “All my relationships with people at Aberdeen are good and always have been.
“We’re on great terms. I still speak regularly to the chairman Dave Cormack and Steven Gunn.
“I was there for 18 years and it was my time to move on. That’s how I’ve always looked at it.
“Managers have to make tough decisions and Jim Goodwin had to make that decision just as I will if I become a manager one day. I totally respect it.
“To be fair I got to experience something new at a great club in St Johnstone and had two great years there.
“But of course I’m delighted to be back at Aberdeen.
“I had some conversations and there were a lot of moving parts happening behind the scenes so I had to wait and see what happened.
“(Youth Academy director) Stuart Glennie then called me to say there was a position as lead coach of the under-16s which was an age-group I worked with previously under Gavin Levey, Robbie Hedderman and Stuart Duff.
“The ice had already been broken with that age-group so it felt like a good place to go and start.”
Considine has also embraced his new challenge in the oil and gas industry
Considine has done more than switch a football strip for a coach’s tracksuit since hanging up his boots.
It’s a new challenge and one which Considine admits he has much to learn, but he will not hesitate to seek out advice.
He said: “Monday was my first day in my new job at TESS.
“I had a lot of chats with Keith Robertson who is a really nice a guy and they are a superb company.
“I was really excited about the project they are working on and what they want to achieve, and I wanted to be part of that and experience something completely new.
“I’m out of my comfort zone and business development is something I don’t know a lot of.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people and will be speaking to Jim Leighton and others who have been in similar roles for many years.
“I’m delighted to be on board and really excited about what the future holds.
“In the summer I spent a lot of time with my kids which, due to football, hasn’t been possible in my playing career.
“The kids’ holidays and pre-season never really aligned so this year is the first time ever I’ve been off and it has been really nice to spend time with them.
“Enjoying quality family time was nice but as ever minute ticked by I was thinking I want to get into a job and coaching.
“That’s why I was delighted the opportunities at Aberdeen and TESS came along.”
‘Thelin has been a breath of fresh air’
The biggest benefit of retiring for Considine has been the opportunity to spend more quality family time and following the Dons, who his father Doug also played for, remains a family affair with son Harry now part of the club’s under-10 squad.
Chances to enjoy watching the first-team are also family affairs and Considine is thrilled to see the impact manager Jimmy Thelin has made at Pittodrie and across the city as a whole.
He said: “It is clear the club has finally got the man they were desperately after and he has been a breath of fresh air.
“He hasn’t just united everyone in the building from the team, staff to everyone who works at Pittodrie and Cormack Park; he has united the fans too.
“The whole city is behind him and I take my hat off to him and his staff for the superb job they’ve done so far.
“You can see who his core players are but everyone else is fully involved and invested.
“You see the connection they have even on the bench when a goal is scored. Everyone is high fiving and shaking hands and it is amazing to see.
“If you are winning games and things are good the fans will turn up. Things have been so good so far and the attendances have been superb. Long may it continue.”
Considine’s pride in Dons’ last Celtic Park victory
Having guided the club to 13 straight wins since arriving at Pittodrie Thelin faces the biggest test of his tenure to date when he takes his side to Celtic Park on Saturday.
The Dons have not beaten the Hoops at Celtic Park since Considine netted the only goal of the game on the final day of the 2017-18 season in May 2018.
The result ensured Derek McInnes’ Aberdeen side, which became the first Scottish team to beat Brendan Rodgers’ side on their home turf, also pipped Rangers to second place in the process.
Considine rates his side’s display as the best team performance of his career.
He said: “I always remember at half-time a few boys asking what was going on at Easter Road between Hibs and Rangers and it was goals galore. We couldn’t believe what was going on.
“I was delighted to get the goal but for a team performance against a team going to lift the trophy when the place was packed and they thought they were going to have a party was special.
“It was one of the best team displays I was part of at Aberdeen. It was such a good performance from every single man who played that day.
“To finish second when Rangers were in the league was a pretty big thing as well.
“I just wish, if you look at how Europe has worked for the past couple of years where second got you into the group stage of competitions, that we would have had that reward back then.”
‘Celtic win would lay down such a marker’
Six years have passed since the Dons beat the Hoops on their home ground and Considine would love to see the class of 2024 follow in that team’s footsteps this weekend.
He said: “For the team going there on Saturday I think the confidence, results, and experience they have got gives them a really good chance.
“It would lay down such a marker, it really would, but at the same time Celtic have had a strong start.
“It will be really tough but you need luck on your side and hopefully we’ll have a bit of that.
“There is a really tough period coming up but I think the squad will be more than able to handle what it is coming at them.
“It would be great to break the semi-final duck we’ve had against Celtic. It’s hung over us for many years but Aberdeen are a different animal altogether.
“I think there is no team in the league going to come to Pittodrie thinking they will have an easy afternoon.
“Last season Motherwell and St Mirren came up fancying a result but that’s not the case now.
“Making Pittodrie a fortress and having a fear factor is huge, and they are doing it on the road as well which is great.”
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