Steven Reid is happy to act as a mentor to Burnley's youngsters, although he is unlikely to use the same methods his former Millwall team-mate Sean Dyche deployed to keep him grounded.
Ex-Republic of Ireland international Reid was reunited with Clarets boss Dyche, who is just 10 years his senior, this summer after agreeing to play for him at Turf Moor.
The two played alongside each other with the Lions at the start of this millennium, meaning it took Reid some time to get used to calling his former team-mate 'gaffer'.
However, the 33-year-old has always known Dyche to be an authoritative figure who was one day destined to be calling the shots as a manager.
"We'd get the odd man-of-the-match rating in the paper on a Sunday when we obviously went on and won the league with Millwall," Reid explains.
"One or two of us were getting plaudits - myself, Tim Cahill, Paul Ifill, Richard Sadlier - the group that were doing well at that time.
"But you'd soon know about it on a Monday morning if you tried to get above your station, it was not the friendliest of atmospheres on the training ground.
"The senior pros were maybe doing one or two things that you wouldn't get away with in the modern game. But it was all part and parcel then and it certainly built your character."
Those who have played alongside or coached Dyche during his playing days claim his leadership skills then suggested a future managerial role beckoned.
And the fact he led unfancied Burnley into the Barclays Premier League with a thin squad and on limited resources came as no surprise to Reid.
"There's one or two (managers) that you are surprised with but from the moment he came in at Millwall you knew that he was going to go on and have a future in coaching and management," he added.
"He was very unfortunate to lose his job at Watford when he did; he did a fantastic job there and rightly got back into football with the opportunity at Burnley.
"I'm sure he surprised a lot of people outside the club, but I'm sure there's no one who has met him and worked with him that was surprised with the job he's done, the way he goes about his business and gets that group togetherness.
"Certainly for the first couple of months I've been involved it's no surprise to me what they did last season."
Reid was recruited this summer along with the likes of Matt Taylor to inject some much-needed top-flight experience into Dyche's ranks.
But the former Blackburn and West Brom midfielder, who has been restricted to a pair of cameo appearances off the bench thus far, admits there has been no need for any pearls of wisdom yet.
"From what I've seen so far I don't think that will be the case too often," Reid said.
"The lads have gone into the season with no fear; you saw that in the opening game at Chelsea. The lads have hit the ground running and there's been one or two times already where, physically, we've had the upper hand in a couple of those games.
"Maybe looking forward that might be the case but at the moment the lads are really enjoying the challenge and we're looking to climb the table as soon as possible."
Source: PA
