MIKE Newell is delighted to be working for Rovers again having come back as a scout under Terry Darracott.

But the former striker, star of the Premiership winning season, admitted that he hopes it will be a stepping stone that will allow him to achieve his main goal and become a club manager.

"That is what I have always wanted to be and I hope that one day I will get the chance," he said.

"I have never fancied the idea of becoming some sort of media pundit, I think you tend to be one thing or the other."

Newell got a taste for management last season when he was in charge of the reserve team at Tranmere Rovers but he was just one of the hundreds of people to suffer from the collapse of ITV Digital.

"I was the only member of the coaching staff that the manager Dave Watson brought in and I only had a contract for a year," he explained.

"It was always going to be difficult for the club to offer me another contract as they were trying to cut down costs.

"At most clubs it is easier to cut down on the coaching staff rather than the players because they see players as assets that have got a value.

"When I was released Terry got in touch with me because he was my assistant manager when I was with Everton.

"He knew I was out of the game and he offered me the scouting role because he knows it is important to stay in the game, to keep busy and to get your face seen.

"I have been reporting on the opposition coming up as well as taking a look at a couple of young players which is obviously an ongoing thing."

But it is in management that Newell sees his future although he is hoping he can make it without taking any coaching badges.

"I am against them," he said. "Having a badge does not suddenly give you what it takes to be a good manager.

"The best bosses over the last 30 years haven't had badges and I believe I can do the job without them.

"Having a badge doesn't mean you can stand in front of 20 pros and tell them what you want.

"It doesn't mean you can pick out a good player by watching him, it doesn't mean you can bring players on. No badge in the world can give you that."

And Newell insisted that the game of football is a simple one and that is how it should be played.

"I was brought up watching the great Liverpool sides and they were successful because they kept things simple," he said.

"You can't kid the fans, they don't want to see teams lumping it and players not giving 100 per cent."

That is what Newell will give Rovers as a scout, 100 per cent, and he hopes his career will go on from there.