Time To Move From The Comfort Zone

Newly installed as manager of Falkirk, Eddie May thought it was time to take a step up from his "comfort zone" of youth football to see if he had what it takes to manage a whole club. The former Falkirk football academy chief will be in charge for Falkirk's first foray into Europe. May will be backed up by Scotland coach Steven Pressley and veteran boss Alex Smith and a new, and as yet unnamed, head of football development. May has seen some of his protégées move into the first team such as Thomas Scobbie, Scott Arfield and Darren Barr and will now have the chance to guide their continued development. May was not on the list of 40 applicants for the vacancy created when John Hughes left. The club approached him to take the step up.

The former Falkirk, Hibs and Motherwell player said: "I had the luxury of not applying for the job, they came and asked me. I thought about it for a couple of days, weighed up everything and decided that sometimes you have to come out of a comfort zone and that's what I've done. I hope to test myself, along with my backroom staff, and go on to help Falkirk progress. I didn't apply because I have been here for five years and I believe that was my interview. I must have been doing something right for the club to hold me in such high regard and tell me that I was the man to lead them forward. I was a little bit surprised to be asked but over the years people within the club have asked me if I would be interested in doing that, in terms of (managing) another club, or if anything changed here. So I'm delighted. The infrastructure at the club is very strong. I know every player from the under-nines upwards. So I know what's underneath and what's above and I know what needs to be put in place to make it better. So everything was right for me to take this opportunity."

Falkirk under Hughes were often accused of being a good passing side without the ruthless streak required to punish the opposition. May has promised the fans that this will be rectified next season. Asked if Falkirk fans could expect to see a different style of football, May replied: "We will cross the ball in and shoot in the final third. It has been difficult for John and Brian Rice, they went to a certain level but couldn't get (to keep) an Anthony Stokes or a Darryl Duffy. I'm a little bit different in the way I play. If anybody watches my under-19s, we still play football in a proper manner but we will ask the questions of the opposition goalkeeper and their defences. But the aim is to stay in the SPL. People might say that's negative but if you look at the history of Falkirk they have been up and down. We are stabilising while helping to produce young players. There will be funds available and the challenge ahead is to go and get the appropriate players."

Falkirk's new management team had been an open secret for over a week but one of the first things they need to do is prepare the players for the Europa League second qualifying tie against Liechtenstein side Vaduz. The first game will be at The Falkirk Stadium on July 16 with the return game on July 23 and May is looking to make an immediate impact. He said: "It is going to be a challenge. We are only back pre-season for 15 days before the first game but we will have to be ready to try and progress in to the next round. Alex Smith will go out on Friday to see them and he will give us a detailed report and then we will set out how to win the game."

Falkirk chairman Martin Ritchie insists new head coach May was the right choice and not because his promotion would be the the cheapest option for the Bairns' board. He said: "We had roughly 40 names coming forward, a mixture of Falkirk names, Scottish names, a few from England and a few from further away in Europe. When you look at some of the names that came in, we feel honoured that they applied. But you have to look at what's right for the business. We looked for continuity and we wanted to keep the philosophy of the football club. John Hughes was recruited internally and that proved to be very successful. John was manager here for six years and it would be great if Eddie was here for six years and could achieve the same as John. Eddie has been here for the last five years and has built a lot of the philosophy and structure that we have here so he was always going to be a strong candidate. Youth development has been important to us and Eddie knows what the academy can produce, Clubs like Falkirk have to bring through their young players. It is the way that clubs go forward."