Celtic legend Tommy Burns was ahead of his time and shaped my view on game, says new Hamilton Accies coach Charlie Mulgrew

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Former Celtic star Charlie Mulgrew has taken his first steps into coaching at Hamilton Accies and says ‘ahead of his time’ Hoops legend Tommy Burns has been a big influence on his management dream.The 38-year-old was appointed as the new under-18s coach at New Douglas Park last week and has now taken his first sessions with the crop of youngsters at Accies who are looking to make a name for themselves in the game.Mulgrew knows just how the talented teens will feel, having been part of the youth setup at Celtic looking to break into the first team when Burns was head of youth in Glasgow’s East End back in the early 2000s.Mulgrew eventually launched his senior career away from Parkhead and then returned to the club as Neil Lennon’s first signing as boss in 2010, just a few years after Burns tragically passed away.But speaking exclusively to Lanarkshire Live Sport, Mulgrew says Burns’ influence he picked up as a youth is still with him today.

The former Scotland international, who has been joined at Accies in a coaching capacity by former Celtic goalkeeper Gordon Marshall, said: “I have learned a lot from every manager that I worked under.

There was stuff I would do, stuff I wouldn’t do and stuff I think could have been better.“I was speaking to big Gordon Marshall the other day about Tommy Burns and we both agreed he was ahead of his time.

He was all about total soccer and playing football. He visited Ajax for 10 days back in the 1990s and came back with these ideas of how to play the game.“I remember when Martin O’Neill was manager at Celtic [between 200-2005], Tommy was head of youth and he taught us a lot about the game and he was all about total football when it wasn’t really fashionable, so he really was ahead of his