"Oh Kev McNaughton" Pre-Season 2011/12 Interview

Dave Jones’ Bluebirds team-sheet last season contained an embarrassment of riches, consisting of rare gems like Craig Bellamy, Jay Bothroyd, Michael Chopra and Aaron Ramsey, to name a few. But, one man’s consistent performances meant he would outshine the club’s treasure trove of star players when it came to dishing out the end-of-season silverware, the silver-headed Kevin McNaughton.

In an exclusive interview with Moving to a Different Beat, the overwhelming Player of the Season 2010-11 spoke to CCST reporter David Towler, following a hard pre-season training session at the Club’s Vale of Glamorgan base.

DT - Hi Kevin, thanks for taking time out after training to talk to us, how are you finding pre-season?

KMcN - It’s been a tough old pre-season to be fair. It’s been good, really tough though. A lot of it has been with the ball so that’s what you need really. Most of the boys came back in good knick anyway but it’s still been really tough, yet enjoyable at the same time. That’s what pre-season is all about, getting yourself fit and getting your touch back, so doing so much work with the ball has really helped.

DT – Despite failing to gain promotion, last season was a great year for you personally, winning both Supporters’ Club Player of the Year Award and Supporters’ Trust Outstanding Achievement Award. Did you ever expect to receive those accolades, given the calibre of players at the club last term?

KMcN – No, not at all, I think a few of the lad’s performances may have been a bit patchy and perhaps that’s the reason I pipped it in the end - because I’m a bit of a ‘steady Eddie’. I just try to get on with my job, but there were a lot of quality players in the squad last season, so to get picked before them is obviously a great honour.

DT – Born in Dundee, you started your career at Aberdeen, which in this edition of MTDB Don Murray told me has the pick of players from the north of Scotland, how did you come to enrol into the youth system at Pittodrie and how did you find your time there?

KMcN – I used to train with a couple of teams when I was younger, Dundee United and Celtic, but I loved the set-up at Aberdeen. It was always football related and skill related; I really enjoyed the training. Every time I went up to Aberdeen to train with the lads it was great, I really enjoyed it. I loved it up there so that was the main reason I signed and thankfully I got my chance pretty early in my career which was great.

DT - And you won a Scottish international call-up while you were there?

KMcN – Yeah, I must have been about 19 or something. My first couple of seasons were brilliant. I won Young Player of the Year one season, which again, was out-of-the-blue as there were quite a few good young players so to get picked for that was brilliant. I damaged knee ligaments though when I was 20, so that set me back a bit. But, then I got an opportunity to sign for Cardiff and since then I’ve loved every minute.

DT – Dave Jones signed you for Cardiff in May 2006, how did your move down south come about?

KMcN – I had a couple of options actually. I had an option to play in Holland in the Dutch league as well as a couple of other teams down here as well. But at the time I thought it would be great to have a crack at the Championship. It was an ambitious club when I first came and to see how things have developed they’ve been true to their word. They were pushing for things when I first signed and things have developed well.

DT – I presume though, like every professional footballer, you want to play at the highest level; do you think you can achieve that at Cardiff?

KMcN - Another reason in coming down is that you’ve got that big carrot, the Premier League, when I first talked to Cardiff they said the ambition was to push for that. Probably last season, with the squad we had, was our best shot at it (promotion), so that was disappointing in that sense, but I still think this club is pushing for it. Now we’ve got a new manger and a new setup I think everybody has been given a lift because of that. Both the club and supporters have been given a lift, so with a fresh face in hopefully we can kick on from there.

DT - You’re a versatile defender, what position did you start playing in and how did your game become to be so accomplished anywhere along the back four, is that something that you developed at Cardiff under Dave Jones or something you’ve always had in your locker?

KMcN – I played centre-half when I was younger, but a couple of lads got injured so I played left-back during my first season at Aberdeen. Then we signed a left back at Aberdeen and they put me right-back, so I played two seasons left back, two seasons right back, but I originally started playing at centre half.

DT - Do you have a preferred position or preferred foot now then?

KMcN - I’m a lot better with my right foot, my left is mainly for standing on to be honest. I don’t really mind, I’ve probably played my best football at left back to be fair, but to be honest with you as long as I’m playing I’m happy and as long as the teams doing well that’s all that matters.

DT – Were you disappointed to see Dave Jones leave, having been signed by him and working with him for a number of years?

KMcN - That’s a difficult one, I’ve played under four managers, some you get on well with, some you don’t, but as long as you’re playing, trust me - you don’t care. I was playing pretty much every week under Dave, so as long as the new manager does the same I’ll be happy. But that’s football – I’ve seen a lot of my friends, especially when I was younger, being shipped off, it’s not nice to see, and when a manager goes it’s the same. But that’s part and parcel of football, you’ve just got to get your head on. New manager, new job - you’ve just got to get on with it.

DT - What do you think went wrong last season?

KMcN – Just the consistency throughout the squad wasn’t good enough. There were too many patches throughout the season where we were losing two or three on the spin, it’s alright losing one game and bouncing back from it; not to mention drawn games, but we lost a lot of games we shouldn’t have. Our form over the season wasn’t good enough. We picked it up towards the end of the season but we just didn’t have enough to get over that finishing line, again. It’s obviously hugely disappointing. I don’t think we got over the fact that we missed out on second place either, that didn’t help matters.

DT – Was there a bit of a fear factor then going into the play-offs, given what happened in the final the year before?

KMcN - It wasn’t so much that, I was looking forward to the play-offs – it would be a magnificent way to go up. I think the first year’s experience (vs. Blackpool) was difficult for me, I was injured at the time, I had just come back into my fitness and I wasn’t playing particularly well, so for me it was personally difficult. But I went into the play-offs this time pretty confident we were going to do it because our form at the end of the season wasn’t too bad.

DT – I can still remember that goal-saving tackle during the second half in the semi-final away to Reading - it looked like you were giving everything you had.

KMcN – I was as disappointed as anyone with what happened. The home game was hugely disappointing. We started well and then gave stupid goals away, again, which was probably story of our season - looking good in spells, but in the end not grinding out the results.

DT – Malky MacKay seems to be adopting a more long-term strategy with regards to new signings in comparison to Dave Jones’ perhaps over-reliance on loan players last season, do you think that will serve us well this time round?

KMcN – Yeah I think so. I’m don’t know if it was down to attitudes of loan players or anything like that (last season), but I suppose when you make a permanent move to a club you’re settled here so you know you need to work for your place. Maybe as a loan player you’ve always got a thought at the back of your mind that you can go back to your parent club no matter what happens. I think it’s better for the squad as well - people can develop together as a team. If boys are signed on two year contracts, or whatever it is, it does help.

DT – What about this year’s expectations, is the aim to go for promotion again amongst the squad?

KMcN - There’s always a surprise package and I think we’re capable of doing it this season – being that surprise package. Look at Blackpool a couple of years ago, nobody expected it but it came good for them at the right time.

DT – And dare I say it our near neighbours last year...

KMcN – Yeah, well that’s it, they’re who we look to emulate now this season. We may not have brought the big stars in yet but we’ve certainly brought in workers, and there is quality there as well.

DT – You’re quite a worker yourself; you seem to be a hero with the City fans, why do you think we’ve taken such a shine to you? Perhaps the clue is in the question.

KMcN – I don’t know whether it’s with the silver hair or what? They’ve been brilliant from the word go, obviously one of my main attributes is my work rate and I think they’ve taken to that fact. I do put everything in to every performance, whether I’m playing well or not I try to give my best, which I think any supporter appreciates.

DT – During the Don Murray interview I drew comparisons between the two of you. We agreed you both follow the club’s tradition of tough-tackling, hard-working, Scottish defenders – both fan’s favourites, although from different eras. The one thing Don did say, however, was that you could do with some Grecian 2000.

Despite having now firmly established your name at the club, what are your ambitions left in football?

KMcN - Just to get into the Premier League with Cardiff, or win something with Cardiff would be great. We got to the final of the FA Cup which was a great experience but I think I would retire happy if we managed to get Cardiff in the Premier League and had a crack at it.

DT - Do you still have any aspirations internationally?

I’m coming up to 29 now so I’ve not really played enough international football to let it affect me. I’m just concentrating on playing well for Cardiff and as long as I’m doing that you’ve always got a chance, we shall wait and see.

DT – As any Cardiff fan would know, you would do anything to get to a ball or make a tackle, however, the incident with the lineswoman Sian Massey last season, in which you collided with her during the home match against Middlesbrough, caused headlines in the national media, were you disappointed or surprised with the reaction of the press following that?

KMcN – I wasn’t bothered at the time. Obviously, in hindsight, I probably should have looked back to see if she was alright and checked.

DT – You wouldn’t have checked to see if the linesman was alright if it was a man though, would you?

KMcN – Well, in the situation of the game, we were 3-0 down and my head wasn’t in the best place to be honest so I just ran back to get in position. I wasn’t really thinking straight, but at no point was it going through my mind to run into a linesman or lineswoman. There were some reports saying it was part of a dressing-room dare, so it all got out of hand to be honest with you. But the only thing I regret is not asking if she was alright but I looked over to her later on in the game and she was laughing so fair play to her. She just got on with it.

DT – What’s the biggest difference you’ve witnessed since you’ve come to the club?

KMcN – The training now is a lot higher intensity. The manager (Malky MacKay) has left no stone unturned, the gaffer’s setup for training is great. We actually prepare for training now, and there are sessions in the pool after training to make sure we’re all fit and well. The main emphasis this season is to work hard as a team and to be fitter than other teams, which perhaps wasn’t our main asset previously.

DT – That’s interesting, I thought you would say the stadium – do you miss playing at Ninian Park or do you prefer the new stadium?

KMcN – I loved Ninian Park to be fair, I was happy with it. I probably preferred playing there just because of the atmosphere. I think the atmosphere at the new stadium is still developing, we haven’t quite settled there yet but I don’t think it will be too long before it’ll have the same sort of atmosphere. It was special Ninian Park – you can’t recreate the old stadiums, it’s difficult. I loved it - there were some great games there.

DT –Who do you support? There are extra points available for answering Cardiff.

KMcN - I was brought up a Dundee supporter, Dundee FC, that’s been my team all my life. But when I played for Aberdeen I was an Aberdeen supporter, that’s the team you play for, and I still look out for their results. It’s the same with Cardiff and when the time comes that I leave Cardiff I’ll look out for their results as well.

DT – And finally, what do you do in your spare time?

KMcN - I like a bit of golf, some of the boys play too, so when we have a chance we’ll go away and play a bit of golf, other than that I enjoy putting my feet up when I’ve got the chance!

DT – Well you’ve come straight from training to speak to us so we’ll let you grab some dinner and do exactly that - put your feet up. Thanks for taking the time out to speak to us, Kev, and best of luck in the forthcoming season.

Cheers Craig, A good read

Good read that one, thought i'd read it before it gets deleted

I want silver hair tooooooooo

Good read that one, thought i'd read it before it gets deleted

I want silver hair tooooooooo

I have had permission for that one!

Interesting bit about the training when asked about Malky, and Dave Jones..... Similar to what Whitts said!

Reading between the lines of both interviews it looks like training was a bit of a holiday camp under Dave Jones.

Hi Di Hi

Reading between the lines of both interviews it looks like training was a bit of a holiday camp under Dave Jones.

Hi Di Hi

I know Gary!

Would you like to hear what Hudson had to say too?

Reading between the lines of both interviews it looks like training was a bit of a holiday camp under Dave Jones.

Hi Di Hi

I know Gary!

Would you like to hear what Hudson had to say too?

I would love to, But do you have permission

Fortunately - Yes! I do..............

It shall appear soon.