THE coach who foresaw that Lewis Ferguson was destined to rise to the very top of the game when the midfielder was a teenager has expressed hope the Scot’s success in Italy will convince more managers in this country to take a chance on kids.
The former Hamilton and Aberdeen player captained Bologna to a thrilling 1-0 victory over AC Milan in the Coppa Italia final in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Wednesday evening.
It was the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara outfit’s first significant trophy success in 51 years and the 30,000-strong Red and Blues contingent in the crowd of 68,500 celebrated long into the night.
Donald Park, the former Hearts and Partick Thistle midfielder, worked with Ferguson when he was in charge of the Scotland Under-19 side and was delighted, but not at all surprised, to see him become the first man since Graeme Souness in 1985 to claim a major honour in Italy.
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“He was a very good player when I worked with him,” said Park. “He came from good stock [his father Derek and uncle Barry both played for Rangers and Scotland] so he was getting good information. He was at Hamilton at the time, but he came in and settled in straight away. His attitude was fantastic.
“I'm still doing a little bit of coaching with some of the age-group squads at Spartans. I spoke to one of the young boys the other night. I said, ‘You've got great ability son, but you need to improve your attitude because ability won't take you there and attitude will’. It is so important.
“Lewis had more than just a good attitude to the game of course. But he was very mature and immediately he became a first pick for me very quickly. He did really, really well in the games we had.
“It is great to see all the Scots over there, to see Che Adams at Torino and Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay at Napoli. We've almost got more Scots playing in Serie A then we have got Scots playing in the Premiership now.”
Park, who has coached at Meadowbank Thistle, Arbroath, Hibernian and Inverness Caledonian Thistle and who was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the UK Coaching Awards back in 2020, admitted that he gets upset at the reluctance of Scottish managers to give kids game time.
The 71-year-old is hopeful that seeing what Ferguson has accomplished with Bologna in Italy will convince more of them to put their faith in the best young prospects emerging from their academies.
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“I'm getting old and I get quite depressed about what I see in Scottish football because I'm very passionate about our game,” he said. “How do the young kids make a breakthrough now? I don’t know. Managers don't get time so they're not willing to take the chance with young players.
“It is always a slight gamble, but the benefits are enormous. It's easy for me to say they should play more young players because it's not my job or my livelihood that's on the line. So, I have sympathy for them, but it's still depressing for me.
“Sometimes it takes an injury for a kid to get in. But sometimes the boy surprises people when he gets in. That’s exactly what happened with Kieran Tierney at Celtic. A space became available unexpectedly and he never looked back. But not enough youngsters are getting played for me and it is sad.
“With a bit of luck, more Italian clubs will look to bring in Scottish players going forward. It will help the game in this country if they do. Just think, if Billy and Scott help Napoli to win Serie A then Scotland might go into their World Cup qualifiers with a Coppa Italia winner and two Serie A winners. The opposition teams will think we’re pretty good!”
