With almost 80 Arthurlie appearances and a West of Scotland Cup winner’s medal to his name, Ryan McArdle is out to match that success from the dugout after finding his way back to Dunterlie as part of new manager George Fortheringham’s coaching staff.
Along with fellow former Arthurlie star Craig Palmer, McArdle rejoined the club as assistant coach last month after Duncan Sinclair was relieved of his duties.
With Sinclair’s departure swiftly followed by the announcement of McArdle, Palmer and Fotheringham, there were plenty of questions regarding the structure of the new management team.
McArdle has set the record straight on the set-up and is raring to go for the remainder of the season.
“We’ve been in the job over a week now and we’re loving it all,” he told Barrhead Sport. “We’ve had a few training sessions and are beginning to get to know the boys well.
“There was a bit of confusion with the social media posts last week due to the way it was worded.
“Most people thought Craig was the manager or we were three co-managers but George is in charge and we are coaches.”
READ MORE: Arthurlie part ways with Duncan Sinclair as new management team step in
A fans’ favourite back in the day, McArdle played a key role in Arthurlie’s West Cup win in 2015 and was a mainstay in the middle of the park in the Premier League for three seasons.
And the 35-year-old is hoping that big-match experience will lend itself to management as he attempts to play a part in the Barrhead club’s efforts to regain its place in the top league.
He added: “I had almost 80 appearances for Arthurlie and won the West of Scotland Cup.
“Craig was a big player for Arthurlie too, so we’re hoping that having that kind of experience and influence will help the team going forward.”
Denied the chance to lead out Lie for the first time at the weekend after the match against Blantyre was called off, McArdle revealed he breathed a sigh of relief after learning the KG Stadium had failed a pitch inspection.
“We were due to take charge of our first match at the weekend before it was called off,” McArdle continued. “With the amount of time we had spent with the team up until that point and with injuries, the call-off really couldn’t have come at a better time for us.
“Myself, Craig and George were still just getting to know the boys. We didn’t really know what our starting line-up would have been and it was all up in the air a wee bit.
“After another couple of training sessions and a friendly on Saturday, we’re much more prepared to get stuck into the job at hand.
“We had a friendly against Vale of Clyde on Saturday, which was perfect for us. We got a good chance to have a look at the players and play about with the formations.”
The new management team face a baptism of fire this weekend as they take their players to Ayrshire for a showdown with league leaders Darvel.
McArdle said: “At this level, it doesn’t get harder than Darvel away from home. It will be extremely tough, there’s no doubt about that.
“I know a few of their boys and their manager, so it will be good to see a few familiar faces, but we’re only interested in ourselves.”
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