Aberdeen coach Gavin Levey on guiding Dons youngsters along the path to stardom

His grandfather Glen Grant wears a kilt every day. If Levey is more comfortable in a tracksuit it is neverthelss clear his elderly relative has made a big impression on him; Levey says he has been concerned for the 89-year-old's welfare since the Coronavirus lockdown was enforced last Friday evening.

“Och, dinnae worry,” Grant, who lives in Dornoch, has told his grandson but Levey spends his days caring for others, it's in his DNA. So is a fierce determination to produce the best players possible for Aberdeen and, in turn, his country. He does not weigh his success, however, in points won or trophies lifted. He has another barometer. One that speaks to Aberdeen's prolific past when such as Jim Leighton, Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Gordon Strachan were mainstays of the national team.

“The fans want to see the first team be successful but I try not to get too caught up in that. We try to measure ourselves by how many Scotland internationals we can get out of this age group, how many professional contracts we can get for the players; try to measure it on the things where we have influence,” he says. “Of course, from 10 years ago it is a lot harder to get into the Aberdeen first team now so the level has to be a lot higher. The goalposts have changed a little but I do believe that we have more international underage players than we have had for a long, long time. More importantly, those international teams are performing really well under the likes of Scot Gemmill, Billy Stark, Brian McLaughlin and Stuart McLaren.”

Striker Connor McLennan is a regular in the Scotland Under-21s; goalkeeper Archie Mair, another youth product now plying his trade at Norwich City, was part of the Under-19 side that beat Germany and topped the group in the recent European Championship qualifiers while midfielder Connor Barron has impressed in Stark's Under-18s. A slew of others are also in the international set-up. All have come through under the watchful eye of Levey and his boss, Neil Simpson, the head of the academy at Cormac Park.

Levey moved to England as a boy when his father got a job down south, then returned at 18 when he enrolled on a sports coaching course at Abertay University. During his time in Dundee he took on a coaching job at United where he combined his duties there with helping out at the SFA, then the chairman asked him to stick around when he graduated. A spell at Ross County followed before he moved to Aberdeen in 2007. He has been there ever since.

If you have never really heard of him before, that's because he wants it that way. He believes coaches are there to be a mentor to steer players through – like in times such as now.

“No coach should be taking real credit,” he adds. “Everyone who is involved in an academy structure should be seen as a guide and we are just guiding players' development whether that be a sports scientist, an analyst, a physio. We are just playing a little part in that player's development. We've got kids right now, some of them are getting up in the morning and doing two hours of deliberate practice before school; that's not two hours of running and battering themselves so that they can't concentrate at school - it's quality over quantity.

“That is what will determine a lot of their success. It's not what a manager or a coach does for them coming through. It's more down to what they do themselves. It's the work you don't see that makes a difference. The excuse is always time and people think when they come to academies, 'yeah three or four nights a week is enough'. Well, it's not enough, if you want to become a top player, go on and play for Scotland and try to help Scotland get to a major championships in future, the hours that you put in in your primary and secondary ages are essential.”

The league season was meant to have started by now for Aberdeen's young players. Instead, they have been in lockdown much like the rest of the nation. In recent weeks, social media has been littered with videos of academy players showing off their respective abilities. Levey has spent much of his time reviewing those videos, tweaking them, providing suggestions for his boys.

With the club's Under-18s already into the Scottish Cup final and the development squad in another, there are tangible signs that his methods are working. But the shutdown has also given him the opportunity for personal growth, the chance to concentrate on those areas he has tended to neglect in the past.

“I have actually found that this time has allowed me to connect with other clubs elsewhere discussing programmes and practices. I've just been on the phone to Atlanta United and I've been speaking to them about how they are educating their players off the pitch. I was speaking to Ajax last week. I'm just trying to be a little bit different, a little bit more creative.

“One of the Ajax coaches showed me what we call The Inside 30. It's a standard keepy-uppy, it's the inside of the foot only. When you look at it you think 'oh, that's easy' but take a ball out in your back garden and try it, it's a nightmare. I threw it to one of our 18s and by lunchtime I had an example from his mum.”

Everywhere people are adapting to the crisis in different ways. On a daily basis, Levey says he is as busy as he has ever been but there are facets of 'normal' life that he misses.

“People will be more appreciative of how we live in terms of things that have been taken away from us,” he concludes. “I don't mean the physical things in terms of shopping and cinema, I mean being able to go and see your grandparents. I think there will be an appreciation for that.”

Glen Grant may just raise a dram to that.