Dumbarton boss Ian Murray has just celebrated his first anniversary in charge of the Sons and he has quickly learned about the fickle nature of football management.
With changes taking place at Morton and Cowdenbeath this week Murray is now the third longest serving boss in Scotland’s second tier despite only starting 12 months ago.
The former Hibs, Rangers and Scotland player has had great success at the Bet Butler Stadium as he guided Dumbarton from rock bottom position up to the safety of seventh place last season.
The Sons sit mid-table again and face Berwick Rangers away in the Fourth Round of the William Hill Scottish Cup this weekend and Murray said: “It is a cut throat league and it is incredible to think I am the third longest serving manager in the Championship.”
“Grant Murray is still in this division with Raith Rovers and Paul Hartley is still at Alloa but every other manager has changed with Colin Cameron being the latest to do so this week.”
Murray has sympathy for Cameron as he explained: “Our second half performance of last season led to me being given some Managerial Awards. That was fantastic especially in my first few months but to be honest I felt that some of them should have gone to Colin.”
“He did a great job in keeping Cowdenbeath up but because he did it over the season as opposed to a six month spell it was a bit overlooked. Hopefully he will be back in football soon.”
Murray looked back at his time in charge starting with a week that brought a huge change in the Murray household as he explained: “I had started the week coaching in Florida so it was a big change to come back to Scotland in November. My family were out there with me and we all came back. I came back on the Tuesday and was interviewed on the Wednesday and appointed on the Thursday.”
“We played Dunfermline away on the Saturday and Jack Ross who had been the assistant and was staying on took the team. I was not familiar with any of them or had seen them play.”
The 32 year old may not have been familiar with the players but he was familiar with the perilous position the Sons found themselves in. They only had 5 points from their first 10 games in the First Division following their promotion via the play-offs and a quick fire return back the way was on the cards.
Murray said: “I was keeping tabs on the scores in Scotland when I was out in America and I was aware that Dumbarton had made a bad start to their campaign following promotion. I had seen that they had parted company with Allan Adamson and I got in touch with my agent Jim McArthur the former Hibs goalkeeper to note my interest.”
“I got the job and then had a watching brief in that first game. Jack had been in charge for a few weeks anyway and it seemed right he should carry on. It was a pretty low key beginning as we lost 4-0.”
Fate then stepped in to give the 6 times capped Murray a bit of a helping hand as he explained: “The next game did not happen for over 3 weeks due to the weather. I also had spent a lot of time getting ideas across and beginning to see an impact.”
“We were playing Hamilton Accies in a Scottish Cup tie. I was fully involved before and after but I stuck to the formation that had been getting played. We were two down at half time and I decided at that time to change the formation then and there. We went out and played much better in the second half and that second 45 minutes ended 1-1.”
“We went out of the competition but I was happy with how we played in the second half.
That impact was evident as 2012 ended and 2013 began with Murray adding: “We won 4-3 at Falkirk in the final game of the year and then we won 3-0 at Morton as the New Year begun. That got us 6 points out of six and we had more than doubled our points tally. What had seemed like a huge 9 point gap to ninth placed Airdrie was all of a sudden down to 3 points. – they were just one more win away.”
“What was also good about it was that it was 6 points from 6 away to full time sides that was not expected. That gave us belief and they were bonus points that pulled us right back into things.”
There was a hic-cup in Murray’s initial run as he advised: “We lost the next game 1-0 to Dunfermline at home. They had scored a really early goal but we had played well.”
There was no time to brood as Murray added: “We then beat a Partick Thistle side who would become champions. The only problem on the day was that Airdrie won at Dunfermline. We could have looked at it as a chance lost but we went and won at Airdrie in our next game. That pulled us level with them and winning at Hamilton the next week moved us off the bottom by the end of January. Everyone was flying by this stage.”
That initial success was not brought about by new recruits or even by Murray playing as a hip injury was keeping him out. The Sons boss explained: “The squad had not been altered too much at all. Marc McCusker came in and scored against Airdrie however he did not feature too often.”
“Scott Smith had come in from Hibs on loan and done well. Paul McGinn came in from St Mirren in February and he also established himself quickly.”
Dumbarton then lost to Livingston at home before beating them away from home however they then had a 5 game run without a win with Murray saying: “We lost to Raith Rovers and Falkirk and that dropped us to ninth place. We should have ended that run against Cowdenbeath as we were beating them 2-1 with a minute to go and only drew.”
“It was quite a turnaround really as we were disappointed at being ninth whereas we would have been delighted with that only a few weeks before. We lost 3-0 to Partick but they were flying by this time before losing 3-0 to Morton. I remember thinking that we had to ensure that we did not get too down by the run we were on.”
The Sons did not get down they just went out and played attacking football as the next three games brought 11 goals for, 7 against, 9 points and seventh place with Murray adding: “We were one down to Dunfermline and came back to win, two down to Raith and came back to win. We also won 3-2 at Hamilton in what was a really hectic period of games.”
That busy period had an effect with Murray saying: “We played Hamilton just 3 days after beating them but our legs went and we lost. Livingston and Raith rovers then beat us at home but Dunfermline were deducted points at this time and we actually ended up in seventh place.”
“Dunfermline’s position was not something that I looked for us to depend on. I wanted us to get back to winning ways starting with our next game against Falkirk.”
Murray’s former Hibs team had a hand in getting the Sons back on track as their manager explained: “Falkirk had been leading 3-0 at half-time on the Saturday in a Scottish Cup semi-final tie with Hibs at Hampden but had lost 4-3 in extra time. We thought they could well be tired and deflated so we went at them with pace and secured a great 3-1 win.”
“We then beat Airdrie and Cowdenbeath to ensure we would stay up before ending the season by holding the Champions Partick Thistle to a goalless draw. That was a good achievement and a clean sheet which was something we did not get too often.”
What had started as a horrible season for Dumbarton with memories of their 1995-96 season in the First Division when they secured only 11 points and lost an incredible 31 games had been turned into a success.
Murray said: “Our previous win over Partick back in January was the last time anyone had beaten them until they went into the Premiership. We beat every team in the league as well and all in all it had been a successful 6 months.”
“That period set us up nicely for this season. The players have been very good both on the park and off it where they are a good bunch. They all work hard and are just as dedicated as their full time rivals.”
“We do use the part time tag to our advantage and I believe that on our day we can be as good as anyone in this league.”
Murray is however not totally satisfied with how this campaign has gone as he explained: “This season has been a different affair as we have done okayish points wise but we have not won two games in a row.”
“We have been up as high as sixth recently but we could go higher if we could be a bit more consistent. We have had some good individual performances and some great team performances in individual games but we have not hit proper form yet.”
“I will be happy when we do that.”
After starting his management career in William Hill Scottish Cup action Murray celebrates a year in charge in knockout style this weekend.”
“We are back over to the east coast this week to face Berwick Rangers at Shielfield,” said Murray before adding: “I have seen them a couple of times and I know their manager Ian Little well as we have done some courses together. I know his assistant Robbie Horn even better as I grew up on the same street as him.”
“They will fancy their chances as we lost to Stranraer in the Ramsdens Cup earlier in the season and struggled against Albion Rovers in the Scottish League cup. We have enjoyed playing the underdog card and now we have to handle being the favourites in a game.”
“Getting through would represent another element of progress at Dumbarton. You can sneak your way through unnoticed in this competition and that is what we are aiming to do. Falkirk got to the semi-finals last year without playing a team from a higher league and it would be great to do something similar.”
And has the first year been enjoyable Murray was asked and he said: “I have enjoyed my time but of course it is results dependant. If you win life is great and if you lose it is depressing. You have to learn how you manage defeats and disappointments. It is a great experience in a sink or swim environment.”
“It has certainly whetted my appetite for a much longer management career but to be honest part time suits me just now. My wife and I have one son already and baby number two is in on its way so there is plenty to keep me busy at the moment.”
“Dumbarton have given me a place where I can go and learn and a place where it is a bit easier to make mistakes without having a whole lot of focus on me. It is a great environment to work in and the Championship is a very good environment with big clubs in it like Dundee and Falkirk but you need to be up for every single game.”
.png){kind=logo}
