For a man that spent the majority of his playing career under the tutelage of Jim McLean and Brian Clough, Jim McInally unsurprisingly has a distaste for certain aspects of modern football.
McInally is the longest-serving manager in Scotland, as he marks his seven-year anniversary in charge of League 2 side Peterhead tomorrow. He is a full year ahead of Alan Archibald and Derek McInnes, a fact made even more surprising by the cut-throat nature of the lower-league game.
Part-time football is where McInally feels at home. His relationship with Peterhead chairman Rodger Morrison, who convinced him to stay on in the summer over a game of golf, and the club’s board is one of strength, with directors travelling from the north-east to watch training sessions in Forfar.
But when he looks at the evolution of the player-manager dynamic, paying particular heed to the ongoing circus at Manchester United, he feels sickened.
“You’re never going to get an Arsene Wenger or Alex Ferguson again. It’s shocking,” he said. “We played for a manager at Dundee United (Jim McLean) that we were terrified of but it didn’t stop us playing for him. We were scared of him and got fined constantly but that was no excuse not to go and play.
“I am pretty sickened by what I see in football now at full-time level. Look at what’s happening at Manchester United, where players seem to be above criticism. Jamie Carragher spent some time with Jose Mourinho a couple of years ago and said players seem to get fed up of him picking up on their faults. For someone like Alexis Sanchez to be blaming his manager for his performances is beyond belief.
“If that’s the way the game is going and players are going to dominate what happens to managers, the game is in trouble.”
Mourinho’s battles with Sanchez and Paul Pogba of late have been well-publicised but are also symbolic of a club juddering along without any direction, a problem McInally is relieved not to have.
The former Dundee United, Celtic and Nottingham Forest midfielder had managerial spells with Sligo Rovers, Morton and East Stirlingshire, before the journeys from his Broughty Ferry home turned northwards.
He replaced John Sheran as manager at Balmoor on October 7 2011, taking them to the League 2 title in 2014. They were beaten finalists in the Challenge Cup in 2016 against Rangers and suffered relegation last year, a misery that still gnaws at the 54-year-old.
McInally said: “The season we got relegated still hurts and it always will. Apart from that, it’s been a fantastic time and I just hope we can make it a good eighth year.
“I know I’m lucky to have a chairman that works tirelessly to bring in revenue and other board members that back him with finance. It’s important to have that relationship with the board; they know everything we’re trying to achieve and they even come down to training at Forfar. You wouldn’t find that at many clubs.
“We have got a good bond and it’s the same with the players; they get to know them.
“I see how hard they work and totally respect that. I’m good friends with them and it was the same at Morton and East Stirlingshire; I had a good friendship with the old Morton chairman before he passed away.”
Clearly there is a lasting affiliation with his players too, with a significant number travelling regularly from the central belt and further afield – Willie Gibson lives in Dumfries and Greg Fleming in Annan – to be part of Peterhead’s push for League 2 success.
Rory McAllister, arguably the best lower-league goalscorer in Scotland, has been a constant during McInally’s tenure, having signed under Sheran before the now-Cove Rangers manager’s departure. The former Brechin City and Caley Thistle striker has turned down numerous full-time offers during his own seven years at Balmoor and last month became the first player to rack up 100 goals since the formation of the SPFL in 2013. “Rory was joking with me at training saying he had kept me in a job for seven years,” adds McInally.
Today sees the renewal of an old rivalry with Elgin City, which dates back to their days in the Highland League and maintained through their ascension into the Third Division in 2000.
Four months into the job, McInally’s side were on the receiving end of a 6-1 humbling at Borough Briggs. That hurt stuck and they have since held dominance over their fellow northern club and won the last eight contests, including all five last season without conceding a goal.
“One of my first games was a heavy defeat against Elgin, so I know what it means to the club. The rivalry is nothing I was involved with (in the Highland League) but when we lost 6-1 up there, it was a sore one for the chairman. I always kept that in mind.
“It means more to the supporters as a local-ish game, to see who’s the best team in the north. The rivalry will always be there.”