Dunfermline boss John Potter says he plans to make his own mark in football management although he has plenty of experience to draw upon.
The 35-year-old no doubt took plenty on board from his predecessor Jim Jefferies over the years, but Potter is determined to put his own stamp on Dunfermline’s style of play moving forward.
However, he has been in the game long enough to have built up a long list of contacts and admits he has learned a great deal as he worked his way through ranks.
“It’s just a case of learning on the job,” he acknowledged.
“Jim told me there’s another side to it that I didn’t really believe, but I’m finding out quite quickly!
“I just have to deal with that though I don’t have a problem speaking to people and for me honesty in the best policy.
“I’ll be as honest as I can with everyone I speak to and that’s the way I’m going to go about it.
“In football terms I’ve got a fair idea of what I want to do, where I want to go and being out on the training pitch is the bit I really enjoy.
“It will be a wee bit of a learning curve for me, but hopefully I can learn that quickly.
“As a player I spent seven years with Gus McPherson and Andy Millen, and they were relatively successful for St Mirren.
“So from a playing point of view I probably learned the most from them and got an insight from them as captain.
“They were quite disciplined, quite strict and got the best out of the group.
“We maybe weren’t the best team in the world but we did what was needed and we won games.
“I enjoyed my time there and learned quite a lot as a player about the coaching side.
“Obviously when I came to Dunfermline, I learned a lot first of all from Stephen Wright who gave me the opportunity with the Under 17s and Under 20s, and then obviously the manager Jim Jefferies and Neil McCann.
“So it’s just learning bit by bit and it was quite a big thing when I got the Under 20s job that the manager left me to do my own thing.
“It stood me in good stead and I think it gave me a bit of practice.
“So from a management point of view I think I’ve learned quite a lot from the manager, but obviously I’ll do things my own way.
“I’ve got an opinion and I’ve got to decide what’s right for me and this group of players.”
Potter has made the step up from coaching the youths at East End Park and led the Under 20s to the SFA Youth Cup final just a year-and-a-half ago.
Although the Pars went down 3-1 to Celtic in that game, Potter reckons the experience stood him and the players in good stead.
“It obviously gave me a bit of confidence but a lot of it was down to the young boys being in the first team,” he added.
“Some of them were maybe thrown in but when I see the younger ones going in to the team, it was quite nerve wracking watching them play because I classed them as my boys.
“But they went in and did really well.
“Some have kicked on and done well, some maybe haven’t, but maybe now with me coming in they might think they will have an opportunity and they’ll get a chance.
“It was a big thing for the club at the time at a difficult stage, and it gave everyone a lift.
“For me, it was about getting boys and seeing them do well, and improving.
“That was the big thing for me.”