It is a case of so far so good for Stephen Aitken since he took over as Stranraer Manager as he has guided the Stair Park men to a 4-1 Second Division victory over Forfar Athletic when he was in interim control and his side then knocked Queen’s Park out of the Scottish Cup after a replay once his permanent appointment was confirmed.
Aitken said: “Getting the three points from Forfar and then winning 4-0 at Hampden to earn a tie against Dundee United in the next round means that it has been a good start to my managerial career. I was as disappointed as anyone when Keith Knox left but I was honoured to be asked to move up from my Assistant Manager’s role and the reaction from the players has been good.
“Winning games makes management look easy and all I can ask of the players is to keep giving me what they have been giving.”
The former Morton, Stranraer and Stenhousemuir 36-year-old may well be new to management but he has been getting himself ready for it for a few years, in fact, since the best period in the Stair Park club’s recent history.
The Blues won the Third Division in season 2003/04 and in the following campaign, they stayed in the top two in the Second Division from September with a 1–1 draw with Morton on the penultimate Saturday of the season seeing them gain another promotion to the First Division behind Champions Brechin City. The management duo that led the club to these successes, and almost kept them in the First Division the following season, identified then that Aitken may have something to offer the game once his playing days were over.
Aitken explained: “The managerial seed was planted in my head when I was working with Neil Watt and Stuart Millar at Stranraer. I was just a player then and they saw something in me in terms of being a Manager in the future.
“When they were here, they told me that I could be a Manager and whilst I did not think about it immediately, when your legs start slowing down, you think about it then.
“They moved on after our season in the First Division but they have remained friends ever since,” added Aitken before saying, “Stuart is now scouting for Ross County but Neil is helping me get established in my new role.”
Aitken acted on their advice as he explained: “After Neil and Stuart had spoken to me about management, I went down to Largs and got all my coaching badges. I then gained experience helping Keith as his assistant for the past three and a half years.
“I was enjoying that role and thought I would have to wait a good while longer before stepping up to a Manager’s position but sometimes, you are just in the right place at the right time.”
Watt, who went on to manage Ayr United and have a role as Director of Football at Clyde, is providing valuable support to fledgling Aitken with the Stranraer boss saying: “Neil is basically mentoring me in an almost father figure role and that has been great over the past few weeks. Both Neil and Stuart pointed me in this direction and Neil is still guiding me along nowadays as well.
“He has provided a lot of support and I have met him three or four times a week since being appointed. I am basically learning tips from him.”
Aitken is in no hurry to be cut adrift from his mentor as he explained: “I have no plans to bring in an assistant just now as I want to see how things go in terms of the relationship with the players. I will get one in eventually but I want to focus on games only at the moment. I will sit down with Neil and take his advice for the next wee while as well.”
Aitken can also dip back further into his playing days for support as a Manager as he explained: “I also have help from long standing friends from my days at Morton as a player as I can turn to Brian Reid and Derek McInnes for advice. I saw them progressing into management over recent years and that spurred me on as well.
“I speak to Brian every day just now whereas the contact with Derek is a bit less as he has a huge job at the moment turning around Bristol City.”
Being relatively young to be appointed as a Manager, Aitken has also to contend with managing former team-mates, one of whom is his brother Chris, although it sounds like it is not an issue.
He said: “I played with Sean Winter, Craig Malcolm and Frank McKeown at Arthurlie Juniors and, of course, I have been in the same team as my brother at various stages of my career.
“I brought the three players to the club from Arthurlie a couple of years ago and since then, their attitude and work rate has been superb. Sean scored a hat-trick against Queen’s Park in the Scottish Cup last Saturday and taking the match ball home from Hampden was a great reward for a great performance.”
Aitken added: “The footballing relationship I have with these guys has changed gradually over recent years and I think they understand that. They respect me and I respect them so we have a lot to build on and they know there is a line that I am on the other side of now.”
As for looking after his sibling, Aitken said: “My brother and I are very close and that has been a tougher one for me to handle as people are always looking for a reason about whether he is playing or not. He has been at Stranraer for a couple of seasons now and he has suffered a few injuries but he has been in football a long time and knows that he will only be picked on merit.
“Our relationship outside of football will remain strong and I have confidence in him on the pitch as well as the other players to do well. Relationships like ours are in football all over the place and you look up to Forfar where Dick Campbell is in charge of his two sons. If anything, you tend to be harder on your family.”
Aitken summed up his short spell in charge by saying: “I was over the moon with the 4-1 result over Forfar and then winning at Queen’s Park last weekend. I thought our performance warranted a win although the final scoreline was a bit harsh on our hosts.
“They put a lot of work into the game and it was a cracking cup tie. The first sending off of one of their players helped us and we also got goals at good times. When they went down to nine players, we were able to relax a bit more.”
The response to Aitken’s appointment has brought dividends so far with the Stair Park boss saying: “The overall effort from the players was fantastic right from the very first whistle against Forfar. In the first meeting with Queen’s that ended 1-1, we had ended the game very strongly and I wanted us to carry that straight into the replay.
“Queen’s Park play a very good system and Gardner Speirs has them very well organised. Playing at Hampden is always tough as it is a big pitch and they pass it around you if you let them. We had to defend well and we did that from the front where the attitude of Craig Malcolm and Michael Moore was great and, of course, Sean chipped in with his hat-trick.”
Looking forward Aitken said: “We now have Dundee United at home in the next round and I am delighted for the people behind the scenes at the club that we are getting a decent tie in the next round as it is a good reward for the work they do in keeping Stranraer going.
“Who knows, Dundee United may not fancy it at Stair Park after a long journey however, I am realistic enough to know that they are a good SPL side and we are massive underdogs.”
Whilst the Scottish Cup is exciting, Aitken knows where the club’s priorities lie as he added: “Our focus has to go back onto the Second Division immediately and we have a really hard game against Ayr United this weekend. We beat them at our place and they will be out to make up for that.
“We are bottom at the moment and I would take eighth place in the League at the end of the season if I was offered it now. It is our bread and butter and next season could be a really important one to be in the Second Division if Rangers are promoted out of the Third Division. We would get them twice at Stair Park and that would be massive for us.”
One other plank of support has been important to Aitken and that has come from the man he replaced in the Manager’s Office with Aitken saying: “Keith has texted me wishing the team well before every game. As you can imagine, he was disappointed when the change was made but I am sure he will get back into football soon.
“He will have been delighted to see Stranraer get through to face Dundee United.”
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