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FAO: Mark McGhee

dave_min

By dave_min
in Aberdeen Football Club

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dave_min

dave_min

Posted
Posted

Worth a look? By no means a world beater, but a million times better than what we currently (don't) have.

 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/football/2010/11/04/former-scotland-defender-david-mcnamee-faces-life-on-the-football-scrapheap-aged-just-30-86908-22691551/

 

Former Scotland defender David McNamee faces life on the football scrapheap aged just 30

 

WHATEVER happened to David McNamee? It's a question that McNamee has been asking himself every day for the past six months.

 

Every day since turning his back on the one-year option he had left on his Plymouth contract.

 

With four Scotland caps to his name and a decent Championship pedigree the defender was confident at least one of England's 92 clubs or the 12 sides in the SPL would be after an experienced full-back.

 

His understandable optimism it appears was misplaced, and now, just a fortnight after celebrating his 30th birthday McNamee stands on the brink of quitting the game.

 

Unable to get himself fixed up with a new club after walking out of Home Park in May, the Scot will be forced to quit the game he loves if he can't find a team by the turn of the year.

 

Indeed with a mortgage to pay, three mouths to feed and a wedding to prepare for the former Livingston and Coventry star admits it is fast becoming his only option.

 

He said: "I was quite confident I'd get something sorted out when I left Plymouth in the summer.

 

"I'm a pretty solid Championship player who has plenty to offer.

 

"Six months on I'm flabbergasted I'm still without a club.

 

"A move to Charlton fell through at the 11th hour and I had talks with Doncaster, Swindon and Aberdeen but nothing came of them.

 

"I find it incredible there is nobody out there who needs a full-back who can play on either side of the pitch.

 

"I'm totally gutted because it has gone on and on and on.

 

"Nothing has materialised and it's certainly not a case of me being greedy as I would do anything to start kicking a ball again.

 

"There are the obvious financial implications but I'm a professional sportsman and it hurts more to be at the shops on a Saturday afternoon when I should be on the pitch.

 

"Footballers still have mortgages and bills to pay like everybody else and it's getting to the stage where I need to explore other avenues.

 

"I don't want to walk away from football but things can't carry on for much longer. I can't survive on fresh air for the rest of my career.

 

"If we go through to January and nothing develops in the window I'll go down another route. It's not what I want but it's the way it has to be."

 

McNamee hasn't kicked a ball since last February and knows the longer that goes on the harder it will be to convince potential employers to take a chance on him.

David McNamee Image 3

 

Injuries have played a significant part in his career and pretty much ruined a two-year spell at Coventry, yet it was a managerial change at Plymouth that derailed him on the South Coast.

 

He said: "I had the opt ion of another year but wasn't happy at Plymouth so didn't take it up.

 

"Paul Sturrock brought me to the club and when he got the bullet and Paul Mariner came in things started to go downhill.

 

"I wasn't getting selected under the new manager despite being fit.

 

"People presumed I was injured again but that wasn't the case.

 

"Yes, I've had my problems but they are firmly in the past.

 

"At Coventry I had an ongoing problem with my hamstring.

 

"I'd ruptured my Achilles tendon at Livingston and I don't think the treatment and recovery phase was done as well as it could have been. As a result I had a tight hamstring which kept tearing at Coventry. That kept me out of the team for a while.

 

"I did play when I was fit under three different managers - Micky Adams, Chris Coleman and Iain Dowie - which I think says a lot.

 

"I haven't had any injuries for more than a year now - I just wasn't getting a run at Plymouth."

 

The phone might have stopped ringing for now but McNamee is refusing to give up.

 

He spends his days pounding the streets near his home in Leamington Spa and pumping iron at his local gym in a bid to maintain a high level of fitness.

 

If the call does finally come he is determined to be ready but there have been days when it has taken the intervention of his fiancee Paula and his family to keep him going.

 

McNamee said: "I had a short spell training with Swindon but I've just being doing gym work on my own and running seven miles every day to keep myself ticking over.

 

"I want to stay as fit as possible until someone bites but it is difficult to motivate yourself after a while.

 

"You do have bad days and there are times when I wonder what is the point getting out of bed.

 

"You need a good family around you when that happens and thankfully I have that.

 

"It's tough but when I "It's tough but when I see the little ones running about that usually provides me with all the motivation I need.

 

"It's my job to provide for them and that's why I'm so determined to get back into the game and start playing football again.

 

"Fortunately the one thing I've never struggled with is "Fortunately the one thing I've never struggled with is confidence.

 

"I still believe in myself and I know I can do a job in the Championship or in the SPL - I just wish someone would give me the chance to prove it."

baggy89

baggy89

Posted
Posted

Ally mentioned this dude last week I think.

 

Definitely worth a look but he's a full back, I don't think we need him, we are covered.

 

Exactly McGhee's already got rid of one full back who can play on either side, what would be the point in taking in another one. We need more strikers and more centre backs.

stoney

stoney

Posted
Posted

Ricky Foster FULL BACK LOLZ

 

Hes not even playing there for the huns! Well sorry he came on as a sub in the st mirren game when they had nobody else on the bench.

 

foster is not a full back lets put this to bed :D

glasgow sheep

glasgow sheep

Posted
Posted

Ricky Foster FULL BACK LOLZ

 

Hes not even playing there for the huns! Well sorry he came on as a sub in the st mirren game when they had nobody else on the bench.

 

foster is not a full back lets put this to bed :D

 

Did he not play in that very position vs Valencia?

tlg1903

tlg1903

Posted
Posted

Ricky Foster FULL BACK LOLZ

 

Hes not even playing there for the huns! Well sorry he came on as a sub in the st mirren game when they had nobody else on the bench.

 

foster is not a full back lets put this to bed :D

 

I know you were massively anti calderwood stoney but did that dislike also cause you to view the game of football differently to the rest of the population of the planet?  Just to clarify when a footballer is playing on the far left or the far right of a line of least four players directly in front of the goalkeeper this is known as a full back position.  I mention this cos ricky foster played predominantly on the left side and a bit on the right during the entireity of calderwoods reign.  Full Back

baggy89

baggy89

Posted
Posted

Ricky Foster FULL BACK LOLZ

 

Hes not even playing there for the huns! Well sorry he came on as a sub in the st mirren game when they had nobody else on the bench.

 

foster is not a full back lets put this to bed :D

 

Come one then, what position does Ricky Foster, who has played most of his professional career as a fullback, actually play?

 

And I'm not interested in what position he played in the youth teams, otherwise we should surely be referring to Willie Miller as a striker not a centre back.

TENEMENTFUNSTER

TENEMENTFUNSTER

Posted
Posted

Come one then, what position does Ricky Foster, who has played most of his professional career as a fullback, actually play?

 

And I'm not interested in what position he played in the youth teams, otherwise we should surely be referring to Willie Miller as a striker not a centre back.

 

You're posting like stoney doesn't already know this. Gie it a fucking rest stoney eh?

stoney

stoney

Posted
Posted

I dont know you would have to ask Foster himself - when i was going to the reserves every week he was playing on the wing or up front, same when he came into the first team, we were short one week and calderwood played him at left back (much to everyones disbelief, then again it was him or richie byrne so we let him off) he had a really good season at left back - then a really bad season when we realised - oh shit this guy cant defend for toffee.

 

He might play at full back but - then again darren mackie played as a striker for 10 years and we all know where that got us.

amp

amp

Posted
Posted

So why hasn't anyone signed him in the last six months then?

 

Probably because as soon as he plays in a competitive match where he has to run really fast, his hamstring will go.

dave_min

dave_min

Posted
  • Author
Posted

So why hasn't anyone signed him in the last six months then?

 

Probably because as soon as he plays in a competitive match where he has to run really fast, his hamstring will go.

 

Pay-as-you-play deal?

 

Probably the best for both parties.

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