Bairns boss hails wonder of Pressley

17 September 2009 16:49
Pressley announced on Wednesday he was leaving George Burley's backroom staff, apparently frustrated about his "minimal" role in team affairs and "limited" coaching opportunities. The 35-year-old's departure was widely expected and followed reports that he was unpopular among the squad. Burley and Scotland defender Gary Caldwell have denied that and May has credited Pressley with a significant role in improving Falkirk's new-look team. "I'm delighted he is going to be at Falkirk full-time," said May, whose team face Hamilton on Saturday. "In terms of our play from the first European game until now, there is a remarkable difference and that is all credit to Steven on the training field. "He worked very, very hard on that, from the team shape and getting the right boys on the ball in the right areas. "We are absolutely delighted with Steven. If he is not at Scotland any more, we will get the benefit of that." May moved quickly to appoint Pressley, who retired from playing in the summer, as one of his assistants when he took over from John Hughes. The Falkirk boss added: "As I said at the time, Steven is a leader of men and a very good organiser, and a very good coach. I have never changed my mind on that. "Steven Pressley has done a fantastic job here and will continue to do a great job here. "People will write stuff in the media, that's up to them, but all I know is what he has achieved here so far has been absolutely fantastic." As with Scotland, Pressley has had to adapt quickly to coaching players who were, until very recently, team-mates and May insists that has not been an issue. "No problem at all," May said. "The respect Steven has got from all the players is 100% and if anyone wants to come to training they will see how good a coach he is and see the response he gets. "Everyone here is working towards the same goal and Steven is a big part of that." Falkirk showed signs of progress on Monday when they gained their first Scottish Premier League point with a goalless draw against Aberdeen. But the unity in the camp was briefly interrupted when Robert Olejnik and Scott Arfield were booked following a pushing contest sparked when the goalkeeper raced to berate his team-mate after Aberdeen played a short free-kick. Olejnik has apologised to Falkirk fans in a statement on the club's website in which he admitted he "perhaps got a little carried away". However, the response to the goalkeeper's direct apology to his team-mates showed there was no lasting damage to morale. "I said what I had to say on the night and Bobby has released an apology on the website, and said it to the players today," May said. "Footballers being the way they are, they all just burst out laughing and walked out the room. That's the way it goes. "He's passionate, he doesn't want to lose any goals, he has been out the team for long spells last year and is determined to keep his place. But he knows not to react like that again. "We move on and the most important thing, he kept a clean sheet." Hamilton 6/5, Falkirk 11/5, Draw 12/5  

Source: Team_Talk