Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre has insisted friend and former team-mate Derek McInnes deserves all the credit he gets for his work in the dugout at St Johnstone.
But he hopes it will be his top-flight newcomers who steal the limelight on Saturday when the two teams go head to head at McDiarmid Park.
The pair have remained close following their days lining up for Dundee United and will renew their rivalry from the technical area for the first time since pitting their wits against each other as rookie bosses in the first division.
With Saints in their third successive season in the SPL after gaining promotion under McInnes, the highly-rated coach has been tipped to follow predecessor Owen Coyle to England.
McIntyre watched his pal turn down a move to Brentford during the summer but insists his burgeoning reputation will count for nothing come kick-off.
He said, “Derek has done a great job in Perth and it is no wonder he is being touted for positions in England and people are approaching his club.
“When Owen Coyle went down to England there was an opportunity for Derek and he has grabbed it with both hands and he has progressed the club each season. He deserves enormous credit for that.”Friendship ‘put to one side’He added, “My friendship with Derek will be put to one side though come the weekend, as I’ll be going to McDiarmid Park to win the game. Both clubs want to register their first victory.
“Game time is game time and I have been used to playing against my mates all my days during my career. You are desperate to get one over on them and that is just the nature of the beast.”
McIntyre also shared a dressing room with Bolton Wanderers boss Coyle at Tannadice and is delighted the trio have all made their mark in management.
But the former striker reckons there are former colleagues from his time at Kilmarnock who are shocked by his success in the dugout after, by his own admission, being a livewire in his 20s.
He said, “If you had asked the guys who played with me when I was 24 they would have said ‘no chance’ that I would go into management.
“I was a loose cannon at that age and I would never have thought that myself.”Three amigosHe added, “When I went down to England, I started to think differently about things and started to note down what was happening at training and stuff and started my badges at 30 years of age onwards.
“I can’t quite explain why players like myself, Derek and Owen, who all played together at Dundee United, have ended up going into football management.
McIntyre said, “That Dundee United dressing room with myself, Del and Coyley had a lot of opinions in it. That is not a bad thing and it is up to a manager to handle that and I am learning that to this day.
“The manager is not always right.”
The omens are good for the Fife club as they go in search of a first SPL win in Perth, with the hosts not having won a league game against the Pars at McDiarmid Park for 16 years.
A superb injury-time Martin Hardie free-kick earned a share of the spoils in last weekend’s dramatic 3-3 draw at home to Inverness a match that they twice led.
McIntyre said, “We need to be more switched on when we do not have the ball.”