A decade ago Steve Kean was managing in the English Premier League but the Scot admits he'll get just as big a buzz as he watches Hibs take on Middlesbrough in a friendly at Easter Road.
The former Blackburn Rovers boss might have coached in Spain, Greece and Australia during a nomadic career, but Kean has enjoyed the sunshine in Leith for the past year. He's out of the spotlight as head of Hibs' flourishing academy, widely regarded as one of the most progressive in the country, and if he were the bombastic type - which he isn't - he can lay claim to being the only coach in the country to be taking a team into Europe beyond Christmas.
The 55-year-old's Under 19 team has beaten Molde and Nantes in the European Youth League to set up a crack at the last 16 against the big hitters of Borussia Dortmund under the lights at Easter Road in February. That's a mouth-watering prospect but the success the Hibs young team has experienced has convinced first team boss Lee Johnson to throw four of them into tomorrow's friendly against Boro.
And Kean admits that's what gets his juices flowing. With his CV, he could have thrown his hat into the ring when Jack Ross and Shaun Maloney were axed by owner Ron Gordon during his tenure. But the Glaswegian is adamant he wasn't interested.
"No, I came to do this job and it's a massive job," he insisted to Record Sport . "I spoke with the chief executive Ben Kensell and the owner (Ron Gordon) and they were adamant this had to be one of the most important departments. The academy had to dovetail with the first team.
“We have elite status in the SFA 's academy system, but can we go beyond those requirements? I was given a blank piece of paper and I liked that.
"The proof of success will be how many first team players we produce. If we can get four, five, six through, it will be massive and that's what we're planning.
"We've put a new system in place and we've changed the way it works and there's nothing that gives me more of a buzz than seeing young guys getting a chance in the first team. I take the development team and I go with the Under 18s to see how they're doing. I like being on the training ground and I get my stimulation from that, no matter what team I'm taking."
The system, which has Kean overseeing the development of 130 academy kids, is clearly working with Johnson including goalkeeper Murray Johnson, Murray Aitken, Oscar MacIntyre and Kenayo Megwa in his matchday squad against Middlesbrough. It's great for us," Kean added. "I'll be ecstatic when they get on the pitch.
"Our job at the academy, ultimately, is to produce players for the first team. We've done great against Molde and Nantes and next up will be Borussia Dortmund. These are the games that will help us assess if they are ready to make the step up.
"Dortmund will be the ultimate test. Not just in the way they play but the manner in which they are structured. They've got a very strong domestic academy where they have some of the best young German prospects, but they've also got a hybrid model where they have kids from all over the world, plug them into their development programme and produce these players that cost hundreds of millions. It's no secret that Jude Bellingham and Jadon Sancho have come through it.
"So, to play them will give us an indication of where we're at. The game was meant to be a 3pm kick off on UEFA's live stream but we've moved it to 7pm, so that we can get our fans in.
"I think we'll get a crowd of 5000-6000 for the match and that will be a fantastic experience for our boys against one of the best developers of players in the world at the moment. It's a one-legged tie so it'll be decided on the night with a place in the last 16 up for grabs, so the lads are buzzing.
"They'll play there with a big crowd, all the management and first team squad watching them, which is massive for their development. The four or five games they'll have played this season will kick them on six months."
He's clearly enjoying every minute of the challenge he accepted at the Hibs training ground in Tranent last December. And having been instrumental in the development of so many top class players over the years, he wants nothing more than to have the conveyor belt of talent rolling into Johnson's dressing room.
"That's the goal," he said. ""Everyone knows we don't have the TV money that some of the teams I've been at in England receive. "The monies they have there is frightening, so our job is to allow the first team manager to spend what he does have on players that he really needs and can we save him money by bringing through a centre half for nothing?
"Can we get him another Josh Doig, Josh Campbell, Paul Hanlon or Lewis Stevenson? Those last two lads have played nearly 1000 games for the club.
“How much has that saved the club over the years? The entire club is working towards this. The first team boys and my team eat together at the training ground and they are very welcoming and encouraging when Lee takes any of them into his sessions.
"Guys like Stevenson and Hanlon never stop trying to help them and big Darren McGregor is now helping out my teams as well as still being part of the first team squad. That will help the lads who get a chance against Middlesbrough and hopefully many more will follow them."
READ NEXT:
