St Johnstone boss Tommy Wright expects his former player James McFadden to become a manager.
The retired Scotland international and now Motherwell assistant will have more touchline responsibilities than usual at McDiarmid Park on Saturday after it was confirmed by the SFA that Mark McGhee will have to sit in the stand again.
And Wright believes player to coach and coach to manager is a “natural progression” for McFadden.
“I was fortunate to work with James for a short period,” he said.
“It was a time of his career when he was picking up injuries and he didn’t play as much as he or I would have liked.
“But I have never had any regrets about bringing him in because he was hugely influential around the place. James gave the dressing room a real lift when he came in.
“I’d have loved to have worked with him at the peak of his game. His technique, his vision and his touch were special.
“He has a good knowledge of the game and he always said he wanted to get into coaching. Now he has been given a chance at Motherwell.”
Wright added: “James has an opinion on the game and that’s good. He is a strong character and there’s a real passion about him.
“Like Dave Mackay and Frazer Wright, who were here at the same time as James, I’d see this as a natural progression for James to get into coaching and I certainly see him becoming a manager in his own right one day.
“But just now he is getting a good grounding at Motherwell, working with a very experienced manager in Mark McGhee. I’m pleased for him.”
After Motherwell’s game against Aberdeen was abandoned on Tuesday night, McGhee was uncertain whether that meant his two-game touchline ban had been served.
The SFA rulebook has confirmed that it hasn’t.
11.6.7 of the Judicial Panel Protocol states – A match which is abandoned or declared void does not count towards a completed match in terms the serving of any suspension, automatic or otherwise.
