Ray McKinnon reckons one of the best “signings” he made in his first year in charge at Dundee United was when he appointed Darren Taylor as head of football operations.
And the fact the man he’s worked with for over a decade now knows his own views on the game so well will, the manager believes, be of huge benefit to the Tangerines.
Although he has been part of the backroom team at Tannadice since Ray took over from Mixu Paatelainen in May last year, it was only at the end of March that Taylor was made head of football operations.
A big part of that job has been to identify fresh talent to help in the quest to get back to the Premiership.
That’s where the fact the pair have worked together since their Lochee United days well over a decade ago is a huge help.
“It’s great having Darren in this role — he works non-stop,” said Ray.
“He’s hardly seen his family since he started.
“He’s in at the club at nine in the morning, and then as well as helping here, he’s here, there and everywhere all over the country watching players we’ve targeted.
“Having him identifying players and talking to agents has been great for me.
“We work closely together and I can say I want someone who can do this or that, or is a certain type and he will go and find them.
“We have worked together for a long time, so if I say to him something like ‘give me a list of defensive midfield players who are not costing eight grand a week’ he knows exactly the type I mean and he will find them.
“He knows how I want to play and what I need.
“We have sat down and outlined attributes and qualities we need for each position and that means he can narrow the list down when he is going to look at players for me and, when I go to see them, I’m not making wasted journeys.”
When it comes to recruitment, Ray is very much of a mind that it’s a case of the more opinions the merrier.
Every signing is a gamble, he appreciates, but he is determined to build as full a picture as possible of any potential targets. Assistant manager Laurie Ellis, goalkeeping coach Stuart Garden and Ray’s old United team-mate Grant Johnson — his eyes in the stand on match days — are all likely to have an input when it comes to narrowing down shortlists to the actual players for whom moves are made.
“As a staff we all sit down and have a chat about things regularly. Everybody chips in and it doesn’t matter what their specific area of expertise is, they will speak up on all subjects.
“If we look at a player and think he can do a job for us, my role is often to raise the question why is it we can get him?
“If he’s not been playing at his present club, I need to know the reason.
“If there are weaknesses in his game I need to know what they are and what can be done to fix them. It’s only once I get those answers that we make a decision.
“It’s not enough to know a player is good, because there are plenty out there with ability and it is easy to look at someone and say they are a talented player — but you still need to know why they might be available, what they are like as people.”
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