Kevin Thomson has taking his first big step into senior management by replacing former midfield partner Barry Ferguson as the boss of newly promoted Kelty Hearts in League 2 of the SPFL.
The Gers academy coach has gradually worked his way up the age groups at Auchenhowie before landing the role as B team manager, unfortunately, Covid-19 severely restricted this season’s fixture list and the popular RTV pundit has decided that the time is right to head out on his own.
Speaking to The Courier, Thomson – as always – speaks well on his plans for Kelty and the standards that he will set, he doesn’t do a very good job of hiding it but the driven 36-year old clearly has aspirations of making it to the top of management with the Ibrox hot-seat firmly on his mind:
“This is not a decision I took lightly.
“I’ve left a wonderful club that were incredibly good to me and, in turn, I’d like to think I was a good ambassador for Rangers.
“But ultimately, if I want to be the Rangers manager in the future — or a manager at the top level — then Kelty Hearts is a brilliant place for me to learn my trade.
“The manager [Gerrard] was brilliant with me when we spoke and he understands that I’ve got my own journey.
“Everyone has dreams. I’m not thinking ‘I’m looking for the Rangers job’ when I’ve just joined Kelty Hearts. I want to be the Kelty Hearts manager.
“But, I’ve got aspirations to get as far as I possibly can as an individual — and I want my players to feel the same.”
One thing we’ve learned having Gerrard as manager is that the Rangers manager has to be a figure head respected by those around him, both in the dressing room and in the game as a whole, and for all that Thomson didn’t quite reach the heights of the Gers gaffer’s playing career, few Scottish players can match his CV – especially when you consider the horrific injury battles he had to face.
The other thing KT does well is communicate, he’s a fans’ favourite co-commentator on RTV, has experience on mainstream media channels as a pundit and whenever he makes public or podcast appearances it’s abundantly clear what he wants to achieve – he wants to be the best at everything he does, he’s obsessed by this, sounds familiar doesn’t it?