CHARLIE MULGREW has revealed why he quit his debut managerial role after just ELEVEN games.
The former Celtic stalwart left Kelty Hearts a week ago, as CQN reported, just a few days after the third-tier side had been hammered 6-0 at home by relegated Dumbarton.
Mulgrew, 38, was appointed boss in January, but saw his team win just once in his 11 games in charge before walking away.
And the ex-Scotland international defender admitted he couldn’t think of anything WORSE than becoming a full-time manager after his quickfire stint at part-time Kelty.
Mulgrew explained: “It’s been a weight off my shoulders. A good feeling to get it done.
HAPPIER TIMES…Charlie Mulgrew celebrates one of his five Celtic title triumphs.
“It’s weird because you spend the last few years of your football career starting to plan and thinking what you want to do.
“I’ve constantly said I have a passion for management, how I see the game and I want to go and do it.
“Until you’re actually in it, you don’t know what you’re letting yourself in for.
“The truth is, I didn’t enjoy it. Don’t get me wrong, there were some times where there were great performances. The boys were brilliant and it was great to watch for that time, watching the other team try and work out what you’re trying to do.
“I said to the boys after the game: ‘You must’ve enjoyed that, it was brilliant to see.’ And they did. You could tell from the reaction, they loved it and I enjoyed watching it. But that’s so short-lived.
“Then you go back into preparing for the next one.”
Mulgrew, speaking on Open Goal, continued: “All the work that goes into it, the sleepless nights, it’s not like me at all.
“I sleep like a baby, but I’m up during the night thinking about what I’m going to do and it’s not just the tactics, it’s who you need to speak to and who you need make sure is alright and the boys you’ve not played, manage all that situation and organise training.
“It was only part-time, but you go into a career and you want to get to the best, you want to go as high as you can.
LIFT-OFF…Charlie Mulgrew in a horizontal hero as he heads Celtic into the lead in a 3-0 romp over Rangers at Parkhead in 2012.
“I think if I’d gone full-time, how would I feel? I couldn’t think of anything worse now than becoming a full-time manager.
“That’s mad to say that, because it took a lot for me to admit that as someone who’s sat for years saying: ‘I want to be a manager.’
“Anybody who knows me knows how passionate I was about that side of the game, but I actually didn’t know anything about what it entailed until I was in it.”
Mulgrew, who could number Aberdeen, Dundee United, Wolves and Blackburn Rovers among his former clubs, added: “Listen, the club were brilliant behind the scenes, the boys were brilliant, couldn’t ask for any more from them and the club.
“It’s me. I could make excuses and all that. I didn’t do well enough at it, that’s the facts. If I sit here and try and blame other things, but, ultimately I was in charge, I was the manager.
“What I did, I could make the choices, the board gave me permission to get on with my job, they were brilliant, but ultimately I never did it.
“No matter what I say and who I could blame, it falls on me and I could fully hold my hands up to that and admit that.
“It just wasn’t for me.”
