Peterhead’s experienced midfielder Bryan Gilfillan heads back to face League 2 leaders Clyde tomorrow and he his warning his team-mates that they will be facing a very well coached and a highly motivated Bully Wee side.
The 29-year-old spent the first six months of last season at Broadwood before work commitments took him to the north of Scotland and he joined the Blue Toon in January.
Gilfillan said: “I am looking forward to going back to Clyde. I was only there for a few months but it was a club I really took to and the people there took to me but I want a good result against them. They are doing fantastically well just now so it will be a really difficult game.”
“It is no surprise that they are doing so well as Jim Duffy is a great coach to work under. He only has 4 hours a week to work with his players and he uses that time well to get his methods and standards across.”
“His assistant Chic Charnley is brilliant with the boys and keeps their spirits high and it is great to see them doing so well this season. Hopefully they can keep doing well but not as well as Peterhead.”
The Blue Toon are emerging as candidates for the League 2 title with Gilfillan saying: “It took us a quarter of the season to get going however sitting at the top last weekend after a poor start of the league last Saturday bodes well.”
“We had a lot of injuries as well and we have never had our best XI on the park but we have been getting stronger as more and more players have come back. Confidence is key in any squad and that together with the depth in personnel that we have means that we can have a good 2014.”
“Things are coming together but of course Clyde at the weekend will be a real test.”
Whilst work and football has taken Gilfillan north, home life remains based in the south of Scotland as does the team he coaches.
Gilfillan explained: “I started off at Inverness Caledonian Thistle when I was only 15 as a full timer. I am 29 now and I am still enjoying my football but things are a bit different as not only do I play football, I do a bit of coaching.
My family are based in Annan however I spend 90% of my time up in Aberdeen although ironically enough I do my coaching down at Annan. I take their under-17 side team on a Sunday and that is something that I really am getting into. I want to do my Youth Licence in the summer and down at Galabank I am very fortunate to have Jim Chapman to work with there.”
“He is a very ambitious coach and it was a bold move by Annan to have someone looking after their first team and youth team for the first time ever. I sometimes train with them and in fact I scored against Annan earlier this season and was told that I was no longer welcome but I think they were kidding.”
Gilfillan explained how he is able to combine his various roles by saying: “Last year I realised that I was at a stage of my life where despite still enjoying playing football I needed to have another career.”
“At Clyde I had to put football on a back seat to take the job in the Oil Industry but I was very fortunate that Jim McInally recognised a way that I could join Peterhead and still work. I joined them just a few weeks after leaving Clyde.”
Working elsewhere has increased the former Inverness, Cowdenbeath, Gretna, Stranraer, Sunshine Coast in Australia and Annan player’s love of the game as he explained: “In simple terms I am involved in casing which is basically putting pipes together and then chucking them down a hole.” “Working out on the Oil Rigs gives you a great appreciation of playing football. When I am away for those 2 or 3 weeks I want to get back to football quickly, both playing and coaching.”
“If we are playing in the Central belt or in Annan I will come home for the game however if we are playing at Balmoor I will stay up there so it is quite a hard shift.”
“I have almost completed a year at Peterhead and most of the time it has been very successful. Last season ended on a low when we lost in the promotion play-offs but hopefully we can put that right this time.”
Gilfillan’s travelling and training arrangements are not unique as he explained: “Some of the boys train in the north, others train at Forfar and another group meet up in Glasgow. We all get together on a Saturday and it may seem a strange way of doing things but it is working now.”
It is certainly working with three wins and a draw in their last four games with Gilfillan saying: “We are no longer sitting at the top of the table but we are sitting in a good position and have confidence rising again. We defeated Elgin City 4-2 at their place, drew 1-1 with long time leaders East Stirlingshire before winning 5-0 at Queen’s Park and then seeing off Montrose 3-0 last weekend.”
“We are scoring goals and looked a lot more settled at the back. We had a few defenders missing through injury but the manger brought in Reece Donaldson for Raith Rovers on loan recently. He has been excellent in his 3 games during which we have kept our first two clean sheets of the season.”
Gilfillan has also chipped in with a goal when he netted at the National Stadium and he said: “I actually have a pretty decent scoring record at Hampden and the goal there took me up to 4 for the season. My aim is to get into double figures mind you with Andy Rodgers and Rory McAllister banging them in I may not get a look in.”
“Fraser McLaren and Graeme Sharp have also found the net recently as well so everything is looking up at the moment. “
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