McFadden relishing new role at Motherwell

New Motherwell assistant boss James McFadden insists he will have no problem making the switch from the dressing room to the dugout.

The 33-year-old former Scotland forward has been handed his first step up onto the coaching ladder after Mark McGhee invited him to become his new Fir Park number two.

McFadden has no plans to hang up his boots just yet and will combine playing duties with his new role.

He admits he will have to gradually remove himself from the players' inner sanctum as he transitions from being a team-mate to becoming part of the management structure, but reckons his Well colleagues are ready to accept he is no longer one of the boys.

"I don't see any reason why I can't get on with the lads,'' he said while meeting the press in just his third day in the job.

"I've played football for 16, 17 years and I can honestly say I've never come across a player I don't like.

"So I am easy-going.

"I obviously make demands of myself and the people round about me, but that won't change. That has been the case since I came back to the club.

"There will be parts that change - where I sit in the changing room, where I sit for lunch and for the coffee school with the boys, that kind of stuff.

"They are still my pals but this is my job now and we all accept that.

"They are all happy for me as far as I can tell. But they are here to help me too. I'm younger then the three older lads - Keith Lasley, Stephen McManus and Steven Hammell. I'm going to need their help and the help of everyone in the dressing room. If I'm going to take training I need them to buy into it.''

The extent of McFadden's previous coaching experience had been helping out with the Steelmen's under-15 side but he now must find his feet quickly as McGhee looks for a sounding board ahead of the new term.

The former Everton and Birmingham forward got his first taste of his new job during Tuesday night's Betfred Cup win over East Stirlingshire but joked it was no different to his recent involvement with the first team, joking:

"It wasn't strange. I was in the dugout every game last year!''

However, he confessed he was surprised to receive McGhee's job offer: "I was very shocked. I was talking to him one morning about coaching and stuff and I just laughed it off because he is quite deadpan. He made a wee comment and walked away.

"I said to one of the boys, 'I think I've just been interviewed for the assistant manager's job'. I just started laughing.

"I went out for training but afterwards the manager called me into his office and asked, 'How do you fancy being my assistant?'.

"I didn't know what to say. I was still thinking about getting fit again and getting back in the team.

"I knew how big an opportunity it was for me but I asked for a while to decide. I should have just said aye straight away because the next four days were mental trying to wrap my head round it all.

"But I'm delighted now and delighted the manager thinks of me in this regard.''

As for what the future holds, McFadden is not ready to contemplate a career as a boss in his own right - not least while he reckons he can still play a part on the pitch now that he is stepping up his recovery from the broken ankle he suffered back in February.

Asked about his management ambitions, he said: "I'm taking it each day as comes. First and foremost I need to learn how to do my job then we will see what happens in the future.

"As for playing, I had two weeks off during the summer but apart from that I was in every day on my own in the gym. It's a lonely place.

"I put in too much work and effort just to say I'm going to do this job half and half. First and foremost I'm assistant manager but I've still got ambitions to play and feel that I can help the team on the pitch as well as off it.''

• 2014