pezza70
09-02-2006, 04:43 AM
Jocky Scott made a shock return to DundeeÂ’s coaching staff for the third time yesterday after burying the hatchet with chief executive Peter Marr.
Despite success on the park, given the acrimonious nature of his departure at the end of his contract in the summer of 2000, ScottÂ’s days at Dundee were thought to be over once and for all.
The driving force behind a team with few resources, Dundee secured promotion to the SPL and two successive end of season mid-table placings under Scott.
With a handful of matches left to play in 1999/2000, Scott was ousted in favour of Italian duo Ivano and Dario Bonetti, but saw out the rest of his contract with dignity, despite the fact that the board had undermined him on several occasions by bringing in new players without his knowledge.
However, following discussion and a handshake with owner Peter Marr, he is back at the invitation of manager Alan Kernaghan and will be working with the clubÂ’s strikers on a part-time basis.
“Jocky has a wealth of experience and we are delighted to welcome him back to Dens,” said a club spokesman.
“He has agreed to come in until the end of the season and will be working two days a week.
“Jocky’s pedigree as a striker was unquestioned and he’s one of the best there’s ever been in the game.
“He’s now shaken hands on it and will get on with the business of working with the club’s young strikers.
“In addition to his knowledge of the game, he brings with him extensive contacts from his time down in England.”
A Dens hero as a player in the 1960s and 1970s, Scott had two spells as Dundee manager, succeeding Archie Knox in the 1980s and returning to take over from John McCormack in 1998.
Scott has been out of the game since last September after Plymouth Argyle dismissed him as caretaker boss, only weeks after taking over from Bobby Williamson.
The 58-year-old has been looking for the chance to resurrect his career and applied for every vacancy in the past few months, including those that did exist at Montrose and Elgin City.
Few men alive have enjoyed a longer association with the Dark Blues than Scott.
An Aberdonian, he arrived at Dens via a brief spell as an apprentice at Chelsea in 1964.
In two spells as a Dundee player he was to become one of the modern greats, picking up a League Cup winnerÂ’s medal and appearing in well over 400 competitive games for the club.
In the mid-70s he moved to Aberdeen, where he also picked up a League Cup medal, but returned to Dens in November 1977.
His appearances in his second spell were restricted, and by 1979 he had hung up his boots to concentrate on his duties as a coach.
He served under Donald Mackay and then Archie Knox before being given the chance to be his own man when Knox moved to Aberdeen to join Alex Ferguson in 1986.
Scott inherited a promising team which included the likes of John Brown, Robert Connor, Stuart Rafferty and Jim Duffy.
He added the finishing touches in the shape of strikers Keith Wright and Tommy Coyne, and quickly saw Dundee reach League and Scottish Cup semi- finals and narrowly miss out on qualification for Europe.
The arrival, however, of new owner Angus Cook in 1987 seemed to have an unsettling effect on Scott and in 1988 he joined Alex Smith as co-manager of Aberdeen.
Despite success on the park, given the acrimonious nature of his departure at the end of his contract in the summer of 2000, ScottÂ’s days at Dundee were thought to be over once and for all.
The driving force behind a team with few resources, Dundee secured promotion to the SPL and two successive end of season mid-table placings under Scott.
With a handful of matches left to play in 1999/2000, Scott was ousted in favour of Italian duo Ivano and Dario Bonetti, but saw out the rest of his contract with dignity, despite the fact that the board had undermined him on several occasions by bringing in new players without his knowledge.
However, following discussion and a handshake with owner Peter Marr, he is back at the invitation of manager Alan Kernaghan and will be working with the clubÂ’s strikers on a part-time basis.
“Jocky has a wealth of experience and we are delighted to welcome him back to Dens,” said a club spokesman.
“He has agreed to come in until the end of the season and will be working two days a week.
“Jocky’s pedigree as a striker was unquestioned and he’s one of the best there’s ever been in the game.
“He’s now shaken hands on it and will get on with the business of working with the club’s young strikers.
“In addition to his knowledge of the game, he brings with him extensive contacts from his time down in England.”
A Dens hero as a player in the 1960s and 1970s, Scott had two spells as Dundee manager, succeeding Archie Knox in the 1980s and returning to take over from John McCormack in 1998.
Scott has been out of the game since last September after Plymouth Argyle dismissed him as caretaker boss, only weeks after taking over from Bobby Williamson.
The 58-year-old has been looking for the chance to resurrect his career and applied for every vacancy in the past few months, including those that did exist at Montrose and Elgin City.
Few men alive have enjoyed a longer association with the Dark Blues than Scott.
An Aberdonian, he arrived at Dens via a brief spell as an apprentice at Chelsea in 1964.
In two spells as a Dundee player he was to become one of the modern greats, picking up a League Cup winnerÂ’s medal and appearing in well over 400 competitive games for the club.
In the mid-70s he moved to Aberdeen, where he also picked up a League Cup medal, but returned to Dens in November 1977.
His appearances in his second spell were restricted, and by 1979 he had hung up his boots to concentrate on his duties as a coach.
He served under Donald Mackay and then Archie Knox before being given the chance to be his own man when Knox moved to Aberdeen to join Alex Ferguson in 1986.
Scott inherited a promising team which included the likes of John Brown, Robert Connor, Stuart Rafferty and Jim Duffy.
He added the finishing touches in the shape of strikers Keith Wright and Tommy Coyne, and quickly saw Dundee reach League and Scottish Cup semi- finals and narrowly miss out on qualification for Europe.
The arrival, however, of new owner Angus Cook in 1987 seemed to have an unsettling effect on Scott and in 1988 he joined Alex Smith as co-manager of Aberdeen.