A Scottish Cup winner at the age of 17, Paul Lambert’s path to first-team football at St Mirren was uncluttered by overseas obstacles or players plucked from the reserve teams of English Premier League clubs.
“I made my debut when I was 15,” he recalls now. “And I had brilliant coaches. Alex Miller came in with Drew Jarvie and Martin Ferguson. I had two years to prove to Alex that I could play first-team football before I was offered a YTS scholarship.