Stubbs: I'm On Road To Becoming A Coach

Jan 20 2008 By Mark Guidi

ALAN STUBBS has revealed he is considering hanging up his boots to go into coaching at the end of the season - hopefully on the back of a trophy-winning campaign for Everton.

At boss Davie Moyes' request the ex-Celtic central defender, 36, has occasionally taken the reserves and enjoyed it.

But he will put that on hold this week to play for the Toffees against Chelsea in the Carling Cup semi final, second leg at Goodison on Wednesday night.

Everton trail 2-1 but Stubbs is sure they can make it to Wembley and put the club on the verge of their first silverware since the 1995 FA Cup Final.

Stubbs - back after six weeks out with a calf injury - said: "Things are going well. We're also in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup and are pushing for top four in the league.

"But things can quickly go wrong. We mustn't lose focus or take results for granted.

"We go into the Chelsea game with belief. Five or six years ago we would have had a bit of fear.

"It's a bit different now, we're an improving side and could achieve something positive this season.

"I'd love to see us win a trophy for our fans who deserve something to cheer about. We've also been a little bit in Liverpool's shadow and maybe we can step out of that.

"The gaffer deserves a lot of credit. Only three seasons ago some supporters were calling for his head as we struggled to get results in the league for a spell.

"Now he can do no wrong and is rightly seen as one of the best in the business. Davie has been great with me and let me take our reserve team a few times this season. I've enjoyed that.

"This could be my last season as a player and I've been on coaching courses preparing for the next stage of my career.

"But I may well play on for another season. I'll discuss it with the boss in the next few months."

The chance for Stubbs to coach came after Alan Irvine left his post as No.2 to Moyes to take over at Preston two months ago.

Moyes has promoted from within and that left a gap for Stubbs.

He said: "I want to become a manager and realise I'll need to do some coaching along the way.

"I've taken two reserve games and we won both. It felt strange and I had butterflies before the game.

"I don't feel any nerves playing for the first team but certainly felt them before the reserve matches."