GORDON Greer may be a veteran but even at the age of 36, he is happy to be working under, and learning from, Steve Clarke.
The new Kilmarnock boss is plotting to steer the team away from the relegation zone with a win against Hearts today and Greer says he is one of the best managers he has worked with.
“I really enjoyed working under Gus Poyet at Brighton and I also enjoyed my time with Gordon Strachan with Scotland,” the defender said. “Our manager is right up there. I see some similarities. Maybe there was a crossover at Chelsea with Poyet, I’m not sure, but there are similarities in the way they analyse things.
“Steve Clarke has put his mark on things since he’s come in. It’s great for an older player, who has played under a few managers, to see something different. He has done things already where I’ve thought, ‘If I was going to be a manager I would definitely take that into my approach’. I’m still learning at this stage of my career.
“Every manager’s different. Good, bad or indifferent, you take something from each of them. It’s the same in most walks of life.”
Clarke, who drew with Rangers and Celtic in his first two matches, remains pragmatic about Kilmarnock’s ambitions given their position at the foot of the table.
“Our ambition is to stay in the league, simple as that,” he said. “When you come into a club who’ve won one game in the season, you have to be realistic. We were joint bottom, with a couple of goals keeping us off the bottom, so staying up has to be the short-term target. If we get enough points we might look at a different one.
“I’d like to think there’s potential for greater success, that’s one of the reasons why I came here. But immediately I can only think about staying in the Premiership.”
His opposite number today, Craig Levein, is delighted Clarke has joined the ranks of Scottish Premiership managers and believes his appointment further strengthens the standard of coaching north of the border.
With Clarke having stints at Newcastle, Chelsea and Liverpool behind the scenes and spells in charge of West Brom and Reading, as well as Owen Coyle’s arrival at Ross County, Levein is enthused and invigorated by the new men on the scene.
“Owen [Coyle] and Steve [Clarke] coming back in have brought experience as well as good coaching,” he said. “I think they are great additions to the Premiership. Other coaches will learn from them as well, so it will help raise the standard of some of the teams.”
With today’s clash with Kilmarnock the last to be played at Murrayfield, Hearts goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin is relishing the prospect of returning to Tynecastle.
The 30-year-old acknowledges that Murrayfield has felt more akin to a neutral venue, with 14,000 Rangers supporters making the trip to Edinburgh to see their team rack up a 3-1 victory last weekend.
Hearts have registered a win, a draw and a defeat at their interim base, but Tynecastle – complete with a new main stand which will see the capacity increased to 20,099 – is set to be completed in time for the visit of Partick Thistle on November 19.
McLaughlin says the advantage of a packed Tynecastle has been missed.
“Murrayfield is a fantastic facility and stadium,” he said. “But there is no getting away from the fact that it does feel more like a neutral venue than a home venue. We have a good run of home games and the sooner we can get back to Tynecastle, the better.”
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