Dumbarton boss Stephen Aitken may work night shifts at Rolls Royce – but he loves his hectic life
The former Morton star admits he was lazy as a player and is now determined not to make the same mistake as a manager
AS a player Stephen Aitken admits he was lazy.
Tell him to run a sprint in ten seconds and he would run it in ten seconds — even if he could do it in nine.
While Janne Lindberg stayed back for extra gym sessions, Aitken and his Morton team-mates would head for a game of snooker.
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Failing to fully make the most of his opportunity back then is something he deeply regrets now and he wasn’t about to make the same mistake as a manager.
He’s switched his day job at Rolls Royce for night shifts and often squeezes in just four hours of sleep so he can throw everything into being a manager.
It’s why he took 120 minutes out of every day of his holiday to Florida to catch up on calls.
The role of Dumbarton boss might be part-time in status, but for Aitken it’s full-time in reality.
He helped the Sons survive another season in the Championship and he has challenged his players to repeat the feat this season.
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Aitken said: “As a player you want to play at the highest level.
“I was full-time at Morton for seven or eight years and I always thought I was doing enough.
“Ultimately, though, I wasn’t. I should have been doing a lot more.
“I could have been a better player. I just did my training and that was me. I regret that.
“In football you need to be an athlete. If I had to do a run in ten seconds I’d do it in ten when I could probably do it in nine.
"I should have done it as quickly as I could.
“It’s maybe an attitude Scottish football has been guilty of in general.
“After training at Morton we’d go away to play snooker and do other things and Janne would be away to the gym.
“We couldn’t understand why he was doing that, but that’s why he played for Finland.
“You could probably say Stephen Aitken the player was lazy, maybe complacent even.
“I took for granted I was a full-time player at a good club.
“When I went into management I said I’d learn from that and make sure I did more than I’d need to.
“In management you can’t afford to be complacent. I went to Florida for three weeks this summer and every single day I was on the phone.
“Each day I took two hours out just to catch up on calls with agents, players, managers and other people in the game.
“You can’t leave it another day. You can’t wait till tomorrow. You have to do it now.
“I’ve learned that. I’ll sacrifice other things in life to try and be the best I can as a manager.
“I’m fortunate Rolls Royce are good employers. But I have to do nightshifts so I can do my football.
“I start work at 9.30pm and finish at 6am, then I go to bed. I’ll grab a few hours then be up at midday for a 20s game.
"I’ll head home, get changed, go straight to our training before going to a nightshift again.
“In a 24-hour period I might only get three or four hours’ sleep. It catches up on you. Your body clock doesn’t function the right way.
“But it suits my football better that way because I can go and meet people during the day.
“It takes over your life, but I love the job. I knew early on I wanted to be a manager and wherever it takes me only time will tell.
“The journey has been good so far. How well you do will depend where you go.
“The focus is to do as well as I can at Dumbarton. But management is the kind of job where a bad six months can put you out the game.
“That’s why I’m constantly on the go. I don’t think you can wait.
“We’ll try to do what we did last season. We had a great year finishing eighth in the Championship.
“Now we have to build the team back up again because two thirds of it is away.
“I’ve improved my team every year for the five years I’ve been a manager. The challenge now is to improve it again.”
During his break in the States, Aitken played golf with Derek McInnes while the Aberdeen boss weighed up Sunderland’s approach.
Former team-mates at Cappielow, McInnes is now someone Aitken looks to for inspiration.
And he admits he is loving working with ex-Rangers ace Ian Durrant as his No 2.
He added: “I always like to see how other managers work.
“You could always see Derek would go to the higher level. He would always do more and that’s why he got there.
“As a manager he’s really switched on. His attention to detail is terrific and he works hard.
“For a younger guy who’s coming through, you have to look up to people like that.
“Ian has been great. He’s lifted the profile of the club.
“To bring someone in who has done what he’s done shows the direction we’re going in.
“Myself and Stevie Farrell had a great relationship, but Ian has brought a different side.
“He was at big clubs and puts demands on myself and the players.
“He’s a character. But there’s a serious side to him and you see it when things don’t go right.”
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