Former Rangers defender Steven Whittaker hung his boots up over the summer and joined Peter Grant‘s coaching staff at Dunfermline Athletic – and the ex-Ibrox man has opened up on how working under Walter Smith at the Gers had a “massive impact” on the standards he demands and how he views the game.
Whittaker combined playing for the Pars with a coaching role under former boss Stevie Crawford but after the former Scotland striker quit the Fifers, Whittaker’s future looked uncertain.
The arrival of Grant from Alloa Athletic saw him add Whittaker to his backroom staff full-time, as well as another ex-Rangers defender in Greg Shields.
While Whittaker cuts his teeth in coaching, the former Rangers defender has plenty of bosses he worked under who will influence his outlook on the game – with Smith and ex-Hibs boss Tony Mowbray both getting a mention.
“I wouldn’t say that there was any particular one, different managers have had different impacts on me throughout my career,” Whittaker said.
“I could go through every one but there are people like Tony Mowbray who took over a Hibs team and had us play a style of football that was exciting and fun to play in.
“Walter Smith with the mentality side of winning games and being at Rangers had a massive impact on how you see the game and how you have to demand standards to win games.
“You go down south and you play a more tactical game down there. You come up against these Premier League managers whose tactics are everything in this day and age – the formations, the details and positions that they go into now. I learned a lot of that kind of stuff in England as well.”
The Pars came close to a return to the Premiership last season, losing out in the Playoffs and Crawford’s resignation after the defeat by Raith Rovers came as a surprise.
With Grant having coached in England with the likes of Norwich City and Fulham, there is plenty of experience at East End Park.
If Whittaker can have anything like the influence at Dunfermline that Walter Smith did at Rangers, it won’t be long until the Pars are back in Scotland’s top tier.
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