The Saturday Interview

IN his heyday, Mike Newell loved nothing better than pulling on the blue and white halves of Blackburn Rovers and running out on to the pitch alongside strike partner Alan Shearer.

As one of the sharpest shooters around in the early nineties, the amiable Scouser counted himself lucky that he had what he describes as "the best job in the world".

Newell and Shearer were two of the most feared front men in the Premiership, and Newell himself secured Rovers' ticket to the top flight with a cool-as-you-like spot kick against Leicester in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

But after being appointed as successor to Joe Kinnear at Luton Town earlier this week, the 38-year-old admits he doesn't miss lacing up his boots every Saturday afternoon. Those days are long behind him.

"You come to a stage in your career when you have to say enough's enough," said the former Luton striker, who signed for Rovers from Everton for £1.1 million in November 1991 - a then record signing.

"I've been lucky that I've played a lot of games in my career but I've never missed chunks of a season through injury.

"I had a great time at Blackburn in the five years I was there. It's the longest spell I've ever had at a football club, and in that time we seemed to be winning every week.

"There was no better feeling than going into training on a Monday morning after a good win at the weekend.

"And for four or five years we won as many as anybody - there was just Manchester United who picked up more points than us in that time.

"I played with a great set of lads and we had a great team spirit.

"But as you get older your legs get more and more tired and you've just got to call it a day.

"If you haven't left anything behind and have no regrets then it's easier to move on."

But Newell would have been hard pressed to part company with the game altogether and fulfilled a long-held ambition when he became manager of Third Division Hartlepool United in November 2002.

Chris Turner departed for Sheffield Wednesday with Pool flying high at the top of the Football League's basement division - and the door opened for Newell to take his first managerial post.

"I've always wanted to go into management from an early age," he said.

"I think it's something you're made for really because there are people who would never even entertain the idea.

"It's something that I just wanted to do."

But it was a bitter-sweet introduction to his new job.

Clashes with chairman Ken Hodcroft over on and off-the-field decisions had been hugely unanticipated by Newell, and, in his opinion, unnecessary.

"In hindsight, maybe I could have shown a bit more patience at times with people. But I'm a firm believer that when you're a manager, that's what you do and should be allowed to get on with it without any interference," said Newell, who, despite leading Hartlepool to automatic promotion, albeit missing out on the title on the last day of the season, was shown the door.

"As a manager you've got to stick to your guns.

"So while I could have shown more patience, I wouldn't do anything differently if I could turn the clock back.

"It's a learning curve and an experience - and in the end things worked out okay.

"When any club you've played for asks you to be manager, it's flattering. And I'm lucky that I've been able to get back into management as quickly as I have.

"People can forget about you quickly if you are out of work for long periods."

Newell has drawn from his experiences as a player under managers David Pleat, who was his boss at Luton in the mid-80s, Howard Kendall at Everton and his boyhood idol Kenny Dalglish at Rovers, to mould him into the manager he has become.

"Dalglish was a hero and I had a lot of respect for him," he said.

"As a manager now myself, I'm a firm believer in managing people, not coaching, and getting the best out of people that way. It's important to me not to forget what it was like for me as a player."

He added: "Coaching and management are two very different jobs.

"Managers have to get good players and put their necks on the block when they make signings - but that's not something that worries me.

"Coaches are more organised, and that's not me at all to be honest. Managing you are dealing with different things and different problems, like leaving players out.

"Some coaches aren't made for management."

And Newell admits Ray Harford's reign as Rovers' boss was a classic example of that.

"Ray was one of the best coaches I've worked with but I don't believe he was cut out for management," he said.

"It is possible to be too nice - but I don't have a problem there. I can be horrible at times!

"But you have to if you want to do the job."