Calum Gallagher admits Airdrie made a brave move in appointing his team-mate Rhys McCabe as player-manager – but he insists the 29-year-old is a natural leader who has the full backing of the squad.
The Diamonds striker has signed up for another season at New Broomfield after netting 16 goals in 43 appearances last season, just three shy of top scorer Callum Smith.
But over the summer there has been a huge change in the backroom with Ian Murray’s four-year managerial reign ending with a switch to Raith Rovers and McCabe becoming his successor.
McCabe is the youngest boss in the SPFL and while Gallagher acknowledges it was a bold choice, he believes it was the right one to ensure Airdrie keep building on the great foundations of last season, which saw them push Cove Rangers all the way for the League One title before just missing out on promotion in the play-off final to Queen’s Park.
The 27-year-old said of the appointment: “It is really exciting.
“It was very brave of the club to go and appoint him.
“But we’ve really cultivated something over the last couple of years in terms of our own spirit, ethos and way of doing things.
“I think we were all reluctant to see that change with the appointment of someone with different ideas, so it suited us.
“The core group, the board and Rhys are in a position to build on all the good things we have in place, rather than going to the manager merry-go-round.
“It will come with its own challenges but the spirit is so high in this group, we will all be pulling in the right direction.
“Rhys will be the figurehead and the leader of it all, but it will be a real collective effort this season
“I think one of the reasons the board made the decision is because they know Rhys knows the calibre of the players in the dressing room.
“In a dressing room with egos, this appointment doesn’t work.
“But in this one, it feels really natural to have Rhys because we all saw it last season in the dressing room just how much of a leader he was.
“It is a natural progression for him and we have faith in him that he can lead us on and off the pitch.”
Gallagher, who is gearing up for a fourth season with the Diamonds having joined from Dumbarton in the summer of 2019, admits it will feel odd at first when players report for pre-season training, seeing their team-mate now at the helm.
So the ex-Rangers youth is happy to be missing the early days of pre-season to allow others to determine the appropriate terminology.
He added: “The first thing I asked him when I went in to sign for next season was: What do I call you now, gaffer or Rhys?
”He’s not one for getting ahead of himself. He knows the position he is in.
“The boys will probably be wanting to call him gaffer now and again and he’s earned that with what he’s done so far.
“He’s very modest and I think he wants to do the job first and worry about those things later.
“I’m happy I’m missing the first couple of days of pre-season because I’ll be able to follow everybody else’s lead.
“But he is the gaffer now and everyone will be comfortable calling him that.
“He might not be comfortable hearing it but I’m sure he’ll grow used to it.
“After the success of the last couple of years, it was a no-brainer for me to sign again and I’m delighted.
“The core of the squad is sticking together and, having had so much success and enjoyed it last year, I was desperate to get it over the line.”
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
