More on Michael Renwick

I've done some digging...

Well we've had a couple of days to digest the latest goings on at Sheilfield Park. Most of the people that I have spoken to have simply asked "who is he?". He may be relatively unknown to Berwick fans, but he is known amongst those in Leith and Cowdenbeath.

He seems to be quite highly regarded in lower league football - as a coach. A few Stenny fans on Pie & Bovril have said that his season with them as a player was at best, average. But there have been a few Cowden fans posting, saying that he is an all round nice guy and highly rated as a coach. But does a good coach always make a good manager? Short answer: no. Look at Brian Kidd, he had a huge hand at bringing on players such as Giggs, Scholes and Beckham. He was a terrible manager.

Above: Michael Renwick - yes it is a Photoshop super-imposed image!

Okay that is just one example, but get my point. I just hope this example doesn't apply to Renwick. From what he has said already in the press, he is an ambitious guy, hoping to go far as a manager and has admitted that the job at Berwick is the first step on his managerial ladder.

At only 31 he is starting out early, infact he is one of the youngest ever Berwick managers (perhaps the youngest, I'm too lazy to research it!). It is unclear whether or not he will be involved as a player too. I've always thought that a player-manager role simply doesn't work. Apart from Dave Smith, I'm struggling to think of a successful example.

A little bit about Michael Renwick....
Michael began his football career at boys club Hutchison Vale at the age of 15. He was signed as an apprentice a year later by Hibs before being offered professional terms a short while later. He spent 8 years at Easter Road and played under the likes of Alex Miller and current Scotland manager Alex McCleish. He played less than 50 games in those 8 years, before moving on to Ayr United in May 2000.

Reports suggest he didn't really settle at Somerset Park, he had two loans spells at Cowden and Morton during his Ayr career. He must have impressed at Central Park as Cowden signed him from Ayr for the following season. His records show he was out of football for two seasons (03/04 and 04/05). He signed for Stenny in May 05 and played 26 games in the 05/06 season before taking up a coaching post under Mixu Paatelainen at Cowden last year.

He was highly rated at Cowden and is seen as a bit of a nice guy too. He certainly seems to have lots of experience at every level of the game. And he has worked under some good managers in McLeish, Miller and more recently Paatelainen. He came to Berwick highly recommended from people in football and fought off competition from two other applicants to land the job, fingers crossed he can spark a Shielfield revolution...