Sean Of A New Era

Mar 16 2008 By Gordon Waddell

Dillon's Life Has Turned Full Circle After Being Left On Scrapheap Dundee Utd V Rangers Today, Kick-Off 3pm Cis Cup Final Live Bbc 1

SEAN DILLON will walk on to the Hampden turf today and spare a thought for the Gretna players who took the same steps just 22 months ago.

Because the Dubliner is living proof of surviving through the slings and arrows of a financial meltdown and coming out on top.

And Dillon reckons a CIS Cup winner's medal will mean all the more to him given the rollercoaster route he had to take to get to within reach of the rostrum.

At just 24, Dundee United's stand-out right back has taken a long and winding road to the National Stadium.

A superstar-laden start to his career at Aston Villa soon fizzled out and Dillon had to endure a period of part-time pen-pushing and bean-counting to keep his career on the rails at Irish minnows Longford Town.

But as he watched Gretna crumble this week it was his traumatic spell at crisis-hit Shelbourne that flashed before his eyes.

Dillon - rescued from the failing Irish club in January last year by Arabs boss Craig Levein - said: "Awin today would make every decision worthwhile.

"I started out as a YTS at Villa which was a great experience as I was around superstars such as David Ginola, Paul Merson, Peter Schmeichel and Steve Staunton.

"But it just didn't happen in the end and I have no complaints about the way things went.

"So I went home and enrolled in college and ended up playing part-time for Longford while working nine to five doing accounts for a logistics company.

"I actually quite enjoyed it and it brought me back down to earth. But I gave it all up again when Shelbourne came in for me in 2006. I felt it was time to have another crack.

"I signed a three-year deal at Shels but unfortunately the club went under after the first season.

"That's why I feel for the Gretna lads so much. I know what they're going through.

"When things started going to pot at Shelbourne I went seven weeks without getting paid over Christmas so it was pretty tough.

"We went the whole season going into the bank on Friday and the money wasn't there.

"It might turn up on Friday night, it might be in Monday, you could have to wait until the following Friday and get two weeks. It was an ongoing thing.

"You start to have doubts about the decisions you've made.

"The club's chief executive Ollie Bourne's health went and he died soon after that and I felt terrible because he had held the club together on his own.

"I absolutely feel for the Gretna guys now. We got our money in the end at Shels, even the bonuses, but from what I'm hearing at Gretna that just isn't going to be the case.

"It's such a terrible thing to happen to people only trying to make a living."

With Shelbourne's financial losses mounting at the beginning of last year the club had to start offloading their players.

And the Irish side's loss proved to be Levein's gain although the Arabs boss was so determined to get the six-foot full-back to bolster his backline that he paid a fee rather than hang on for the fire sale.

It was that determination which made an instant impact on Dillon. He said: "I could have been out on a free the following week but the gaffer said to me he couldn't wait.

"He wanted to get me in on a fee. That was a big plus.

"I'd spoken to another club back home who said, when is the tribunal? What's happening?, while the gaffer here came in and said we are willing to pay to get you now.

"In my first week here I knew it was right. I didn't have an ideal debut mind you.

"We lost 5-0 at Rangers in Walter Smith's first game but I just felt I had to give it a whack and it has all worked out now.

"I can go back to college when I'm 40 if I want another career.

"I won't get the chance to do this again in 10 or 20 years which is why I went full-time in the first place."

Levein's decision has been vindicated too as barring one suspension and a brief ankle knock Dillon has been an ever present in one of Scotland's stingiest defences.

But Sean insists it is his gaffer's belief in his ability that has inspired him to set new standards for himself.

He revealed: "There is a quiet confidence within the group no matter who we are playing.

"We're not arrogant in any way, it's self-belief.

"When I first came in you could sense it in the club straight away and it all comes down from the gaffer.

"I'm sure people looked at the Celtic game in midweek and thought there is no way we'd get anything.

"But Craig has the belief in you. He believes in his own ability as a manager and everyone buys into that. You're made to believe in it.

"You're given confidence. He breeds it into you. You realise how good you are and he gets the best out of players.

"He has impressed me without a doubt. He's the best manager I've worked under.

"Before signing I came over with my father for a day and as soon as we met Craig we knew United was the right place to go."