Scott Severin, born in Stirling and beginning his professional career at Hearts, has become part of the furniture in the past few years at Aberdeen.  In The Winning Zone caught up with him as he reflects on his career...

WZ: Tell us a bit about how you grew up and how you got into football?

SS: I must have been about 8 or 9.  I had two older brothers and I used to always try and get a game with them and they always said no, but I stuck in there.  Then there was a local boys club that started up in the area I came from, outside Stirling in Tullicoultry.  They really wanted me to go and train with them but I was very shy at the time and didn’t want to go, so my older brother came with me to the first training session because I didn’t know anyone and was really shy!

After that I was fine and trained away, I scored a few goals and went on to join Gairdoch boys club.  They are a big club in Scotland. I was there a few years and that’s when the scouts starting coming to watch.

WZ: What happened then?

SS: By then I was about 12 or 13. I was always out training, every night of the week.  I was training with Aberdeen, Hearts, Rangers and even Manchester United, I went down at Easter time to train with them. 

I signed with Hearts because I felt I got treated the best there.  There were a lot of young boys at the time who were given good opportunities and I signed for them when I was 14.

WZ: Whenever you made that step from the boys club to Hearts, did you notice a significant change in how you had to apply yourself?

SS: I did.  There was a difference with my lifestyle, I had to move away from home and moved into digs in Edinburgh and trained every day.  I also did a lot of gym work as well, for building up strength.  You are always trying to get yourself quicker and stronger to compete at the higher level to try and get into the youth team when you are 16 & 17, then into the reserves and gradually the first team.

It is a learning process, trying to improve your skill and your game to try and one day be in the first team.

WZ: When you were running out at Tynecastle for the first time and there were thousands and thousands of people screaming and shouting, did you ever get nervous? How did you cope with that pressure?

SS: I think maybe the first couple of games I was nervous, but there were times when if I didn’t get nervous then I worried I would think it was too easy! Even now I try and psyche myself up by thinking the worst about players and try and get myself nervous to get myself going.

It’s not too bad now though.  I was playing a round of golf last week and I was more nervous playing off the first tee than I was running out or taking a penalty in front of 20,000 people!

 I think it is a totally different pressure.  I am used to this pressure now, rather than when you are standing on the first tee in front of 20 people, it’s nerve racking!

WZ: Is there a different type of pressure when you are walking out to a game that you are expected to win as opposed walking out to a game that you are expected to not do so well in?

SS: I think you try to apply yourself the correct way all the time. It is quite difficult with the games that we had this season.  It’s very different coming against Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich to maybe Gretna or somebody.  It is a totally different pressure.  The quality of the side that you are playing against is totally different, so you have to raise your game there, whereas in a game against Gretna game you are expected to win.

Though the longer the game goes without scoring a goal it becomes harder, but if you can get an early goal and a good start to the game then it makes it a lot easier.

WZ: That UEFA cup run you had this year, was that one of the pinnacles of your career?

SS: Yes.  It was a great experience for all the boys. Everybody was writing us off when we got Dnipro in the qualifying round.  We knew what they had done to Hibs a couple of seasons ago. It was a massive game.  Just looking at their team sheet, you saw some of their guys that played in the World Cup Finals or European Championships.

It was a tough game, but as a team we stuck together and we managed to score a goal away from home.  It was a great experience to play against the teams that we drew in the group stages.  It was a great experience for all the boys.

WZ: And the Copenhagen game? That was a superb performance.

SS: Yes.  That’s a game that we had to win and we won that quite convincingly, 4-0.  That was a night where everything went right for us, where Jamie (Smith) scored a couple of great goals, when on another night they could hit the back of the stand.  On your day you need a bit of luck and we got that.

WZ: How did you prepare to be playing against some of the big names playing with Madrid and Bayern?

SS: We approached it like a normal game.  We would go over the team a little bit. I think there was no need for us to watch videos, we all knew what they were capable of and they are on the TV every week on Sky or Setanta.

So we had all seen them perform before, and they were  games that we weren’t expected to do anything in, so we had nothing to lose.

We were told to go out there and enjoy the occasion, and if we caused an upset then great. It created a lot of finance for the club as well, which was another bonus. It was a great experience. We were comfortable on the ball, taking possession and that’s one thing that we aren’t used to in Europe. It is totally different.

RO – Did you think that is a problem in the UK that the continental players are more comfortable on the ball.  In Europe players are spending much more time on the ball as youngsters, so by the time that they reach adulthood the European guys are having more touches of the ball.  It seems like such an easy flaw that can be fixed.

SS: I know what you are saying.  It’s the same being in pre-season. Hopefully we will slowly catch up with them.  You are right in what you say and it’s not just in Scotland, I think it’s the whole of the UK. You have all these Dutch teams that have had their academies set up for 20-30 years and Hearts and Rangers have only had it for 4 or 5 years now.  We’ve still not got one at Aberdeen. 

It is difficult when you have to train on pitches that aren’t the best and you still have to pick up the dog dirt before you play, but hopefully that will change in a few years. I think if they are trying to change it by bringing in new scouts and training methods. 

WZ: As a young player, what was your personal ambition and did you achieve it?

SS:  I just wanted to be as good a player as I could. 

WZ: When you were a young player at Hearts, were there quite a lot of good role models for you?

SS: It was a cracking team that they had at that time.  I think a few of them have managed to make a good living out of the game with TV or coaching or whatever.  They helped you along when you needed it and gave you a kick up the backside when you needed it, if you were getting too big for your boots are trying to play the game the right way.

WZ: Being in a senior figure yourself now at Aberdeen, are you finding yourself in a position where you need to be a role model to some of the younger guys? Do they come to you for advice?

SS: It is strange being one of the older players in the team and I don’t feel like one of the older players, but as the Club Captain I have to set an example. Hopefully I can do this on the pitch. If it rubs off and I can give some of the young boys a bit of advice or do something right on the park, in  the right way that they can follow, I hope that it will help them.

WZ:  There is a bit of an epidemic with football at the minute that unfortunately some players aren’t always setting the right example, such as when Stephen McManus and Barry Ferguson were trying to fight with each other after an Old-Firm Game at Celtic.

SS: People get caught in the moment.  You get on the pitch and you just want to win the game and you don’t want to leave the pitch a loser.  It’s a team game and a winning sport and I think that sometimes you can just get carried away. I think everyone can make one or two mistakes in their life. 

WZ: What would you say are the two or three key traits that you have displayed that have got you to where you are in your career?

SS : I think determination is my main one.  If you get a knockback then you always have to show the ability to bounce back.  If you get a knockback in your career and you don’t do anything about it then you will just slip down the chain. 

When I was a young boy, I was always on one year contracts and making damn sure that I got another one after it. I have a lot to thank Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown for that. They believed in me and gave me opportunities.  Since then I have gone on and done ok for myself.

RO: You are very lucky that you have worked with some very good Scottish Managers over the years.

SS: Yes, they have all been Scottish.  They all have different abilities.  Every single one of them has been a pleasure to work with.

Craig Levein was always big on his fitness, his work rate.  He always wanted you to get the ball and to pass it.  I think he was always trying to give you confidence to get on the ball, like how they are doing it in Europe.

WZ: Speaking of determination, how many of the players in your youth team became senior professionals?

SS: There were a lot more players that were more talented than me.  I think of all of them only three of us that are still playing as professionals, me, Gary Naismith and Kenny Milne, who’s at Falkirk.

There are not many but if you look at the youth team from Aberdeen a few years ago, they have a hell of a lot of players that are playing all over Scotland and Britain.

WZ: Do you think it was the determination that was the difference between those who made it and those who didn’t?

SS: It goes a long way and if you get a knockback you have to try and get back up and show them of what you are capable of.  There is no point in just accepting a knockback and fading away. You have to fight and believe that you are good enough to get a chance in the first team or to earn a move to another team.

WZ: How would you define winning?

SS:  It is a difficult one.  It is the winning trophies that people remember.  I have played over 330 games in my career and I have never won anything but it is something that I would always like to achieve and win one or two trophies. If I don’t then I will look back and say that I have had a decent career and I did my best, hopefully people will appreciate what I have done.

RO
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