Craig Brown spent 16 years with the Scottish FA, going to three World Cups as coach, assistant-manager and then manager. He joined First Division Preston at the age of 61 in April 2002 and is currently trying to take them into the Premiership for the first time in 40 years.

Q: Who is the best player you have ever coached?

A: Dalglish. I say coached, I was actually assistant-manager of Scotland and he was still in the squad. He was just getting his 101st and 102nd Scottish cap under the manager Andy Roxburgh. He was as good as his reputation and he was very responsive as well. There is a mistaken notion that big stars are difficult to handle, but my experience is the opposite. Big stars are easier to handle. I also dealt with big-name players at the 1986 World Cup like Graeme Souness, Gordon Strachan and Steve Nicol of Liverpool. I only had a few training sessions with Dalglish but he was head and shoulders above anyone else.

Q: Do you have a managerial slogan?

A: (laughs) People tell me I'm always saying 'We need to give him a heavy slap'. I mean it metaphorically, not literally! They even put it on the menu board at the Preston training ground; she will put up tomato soup, salad, heavy slap. So I must say it a lot.

If we were playing against Litmanen of Finland or Zidane, I would say to Craig Burley 'you need to give Zidane a heavy slap'. They laugh at that...

Q: What is the one quality a top manager must have?

A: You must have an appreciation and knowledge of the game. If you don't, the players detect it right away. I think you always underplay your hand, you don't get too boastful or cocky, and you should always respect your players. Respect every player even if he is a poor player who has made a mistake, and in turn they will respect you.

I think it is important to respect everyone. Not just players, but the staff as well. When we play away games, we leave the dressing-rooms as we find them. We clean it, sweep it up and leave it immaculate when we leave. Respect is the thing. With Scotland we always took six youth-team players with our World Cup squads so we could have full-size practise matches even when we picked up injuries. The six would do the laundry, put up the goals and clean up the dressing-rooms. Even on the aircrafts, we would give them a bin liner to clean up the litter our team may have made.

 

Q: Which other managers do you admire?

A: Alec [Ferguson] is a pal so it's a wee bit different and Bobby Robson is another one. I sat next to Alec and the Scotland-Holland game at Hampden and the Sky commentator Ian Crocker texted me saying "I see there is one good manager sitting in your row." I replied: "Yes, and Alec Ferguson is here as well." I showed it to Alec and he was laughing.

Obviously, Alec is the doyen at the moment. In the past, Bill Shankly was the man; I read his autobiography, listen to his tapes. His homespun philosophy was fantastic. Bobby Robson is someone I really, really respect so much. When we played England in the play-offs [for Euro 2000], we lost 2-0 at Hampden and the press were going to give me a right doing because we had lost to England but Bobby phoned me that night.

He said he had watched the game, and told me my team had played very well and I should keep my head up. Although he was English, he was very supportive. And we won at Wembley. He is a hero of mine because he is such a gentleman. Because I am nearly his age, he is a role model (laughs).

Of all the things in my life, I think the greatest honour was getting a phone call for Alec Ferguson in 1986 when I was the manager of Clyde. He asked me what I was doing for my summer holidays and asked me if I fancied Mexico. It took a while to dawn on me that he was asking me to be one of his coaches for the World Cup!

Q: If there is one rule you would like to change, what would it be?

A: I have one that will surprise you. I think fans, sponsors and television pay for 11-a-side. When a player gets ordered off, he should be replaced. The player should be punished off course, he should get a ban like he does nowadays. But instead of going down to 10 men, the team should have a penalty awarded against them and allowed to bring a substitute on. I have always thought this. If I punch an opponent in the tunnel at half-time, the other team gets a penalty at the start of the second half. 10 v 11 are spoilt games. There were 18 games in one World Cup 10 v 11 and most of them were spoilt games.

Q: What is the major difference in the game since you were playing?

A: Substitutes - but it was the 1960s when I played! When I played, if you were hurt you would stay on and go to the wing and limp. As a manager, I have had to adjust - I was used to dealing with seven subs with Scotland or 11 in the World Cup. With Preston, it is only five.

 

Q: What is the difference between the English First Division and the Scottish domestic game?

A: The Nationwide First is much more competitive. There are two teams in the SPL (Celtic and Rangers) that would win our division no problem. But the rest of the teams would struggle a bit. A team like Preston would be right up there in the SPL.

We would be better than Aberdeen for example, and our attendances are higher than Hearts, who get the third-highest crowds in Scotland. Our average crowds last season was 14,800 and Hearts was 12,000. You go to Ipswich, Sunderland, West Brom, West Ham and the crowds are more than 20,000. This is a bigger league than the SPL if you take out Celtic and Rangers.

Q: Why are there so many successful Scottish managers in England (Dalglish, Shankly, Souness, Ferguson, Strachan, Graham etc)?

A: You have to be honest and say not all Scottish managers have been successful in England, and there are plenty of good English managers as well. But I think the Scot comes down with a fighting disposition and a determination. And the ones that I know, like Alec my pal, Walter Smith, Gordon Strachan - they are all honest, knowledgeable and forthright guys who are determined. The Scots going back to Shankly and Busby speak their minds and they get respect from players.

Q: What do you hope to achieve with Preston this season?

A: My target at the start was a top-six place and that is still the target. We have improved after getting one point from our first four games, a very difficult fixture list against West Ham, West Brom, Wigan and Sunderland. I think the players we've got at the club can compete well in this league. I expect us to be challenging for the play-offs.