Cowboy: Job offer left me in tears

Jul 6 2008 By Scott Mcdermott

JOHN McCORMACK sat alone in his tiny Cliftonhill office crying over the phone to wife Gail.

The man nicknamed "Cowboy" after a famous Glasgow boxer was welling up inside as he spoke to her.

Overtaken by emotion, one of Scottish football's hardest characters had been reduced to tears.

Moments earlier Hamilton Accies boss Billy Reid had asked him to be his new assistant manager in the SPL.

It was the phone call Cowboy had prayed for but feared would never come.

A decade after being disgracefully dumped by Dundee, with his side five points clear at the top of the First Division, McCormack is back where he believes he belongs.

After spells at the likes of Morton, Stenhousemuir, Queen's Park and latterly Albion Rovers he has been handed a golden ticket by Reid.

Incredibly, both men were virtual strangers before John took Billy's call from Crete where the Accies gaffer was on holiday.

But after just 15 minutes in his company Reid was convinced John was the right man for the job.

When MailSport met McCormack last week he was still floating around New Douglas Park.

He said: "Billy's call shocked me and I felt quite humble just to be considered for the position. I don't actually know him as a person at all.

"He wanted to meet me when he got back from holiday on Thursday night. I asked 'Do you have someone to pick you up?' I was that keen!

"Billy met me on Friday morning and I thought I was going for an interview.

"But 15 minutes into the conversation Billy told me the chairman would be there shortly and if I agreed terms he wanted to get going right away.

"You always think the chance has passed you by. I know there are lots of guys out of work and I was quite envious every time someone got a job.

"But it's my turn now and I've been given the chance.

"Sometimes you can fall out of love with the game, sickened with things that happen.

"It's probably more about how it affects your family.

"It's not yourself, it's the people who are closest to you.

"They end up becoming part of it because they are always helping you.

"There are times when it becomes really emotional. I'm an emotional guy.

"I don't mind admitting after Billy phonedme I was sitting in my office with no-one to talk to.

"So I phoned my wife and started to fill up with tears. It suddenly hit me what an opportunity I had at a club like Accies in the SPL.

"I was getting the chance to pitch myself and ask to be part of it. The feeling was absolutely incredible."

McCormack will never forget the day he got the bullet from Dens Park in 1998 when looking odds on to get Dundee promoted.

His sacking by Peter and Jimmy Marr stunned Scottish football and hurt the man who had dedicated nine years of his professional life to the Dark Blues as player and coach.

Cowboy can't erase it from his memory.

Especially the moment when he looked daughter Marie in the eye and couldn't explain why he was out of a job.

He also revealed he's still waiting for the First Division championship winner's medal he was promised 10 years ago.

John, 53, said: "I always think back to getting sacked at Dundee.

"I try not to, you know the old saying 'you'll never know where you're going if you keep looking back'.

"But you have to reflect, especially when people bring it up. I loved my time in Dundee, it was brilliant.

"However, there's a way of dealing with people and situations in a proper manner.

"In football you can deal with being told a few white lies now and again but some of the lies I was told up there, that's not what the game's about.

"It's in the past and it has gone. Now I'm a Hamilton man - I've even been McCormack - brought up in Glasgow's tough Blackhill estate - still takes great strength from the support of his family, particularly mum Cathy.

She was the one person who never gave up hope that her son would one day get a crack at the SPL.

And that's why Cowboy is hell-bent on repaying Reid's faith in him and helping Accies re-establish themselves as a top-flight outfit.

John said: "When I was out of a job I was working with schoolkids, teaching them about the dangers of drink and drugs, which I really enjoyed doing.

"I loved trying to help them make the right decisions in life because I saw a lot of my mates go down the wrong road.

"But now, to be involved with players every day and getting excited when I look at the fixture list, is brilliant.

"That's what I wanted to get back to. Going to Ibrox and Parkhead is what it's all about.

"Hamilton have made it to the SPL on merit and hopefully I can help them make an impact.

"All the players have a great attitude and their togetherness is first-class.

"Billy makes sure everything is upbeat at the club and I look forward to going to work each day."