Hibs league winner earns Scottish Premiership coaching opportunity after completing UEFA B License
The former Hibs midfielder is taking up a player-coach role at Livingston.
Former Hibs star Andrew Shinnie has agreed to become a first-team player-coach at Livingston.
Shinnie recently obtained his UEFA B Licence Coaching Badge and has been taking sessions with the under-19s, however manager David Martindale now believes he’s ready to take the step up. At the age of 36, Shinnie still stresses he will have a part to play on the pitch at Almondvale this season but is happy to act as a ‘link’ between players and coaching staff.
His playing career has spanned over two decades playing north and south of the border, accumulating over 450 career appearances. During his time in Leith, Shinnie helped Hibs get back in the top flight after being relegated to the Championship. The attacking midfielder played 27 times for Neil Lennon’s title-winning side during his season-long loan spell.
Shinnie relishes opportunity to be ‘link’ between players and staff
Speaking to Livingston’s Youtube channel after his appointment, Shinnie said: “it's a great feeling. I spoke to the manager about it. I'll still sort of be on the training field and be part of the playing squad if needed but I'm also going to be sort of looking into the coaching side of it.
“I'll be joining in with the staff meetings and taking parts of sessions as the season goes on and I'll be a good link for the players. I also get on very well with the players so I'll be a link to the coaching staff for them if they need to speak to me, so it’s just me stepping into my coaching journey really.
“I've been with the under 19s for over a month now so that's been really good. I’ve been doing match days and taking sessions with them so I'll still be doing that. I’ll be learning off the gaffer, Neily [Hastings] and Marv [Bartley]. It's obviously the first steps for me so I'm just learning but it'll be good to be in the staff meetings and learn off them.”
Martindale ‘delighted’ with Shinnie appointment
The Livingston boss added that just because he’s starting a new role, it doesn’t mean his playing days are over. He said: “I think it's important to let everybody know he's still going to be on the training park, Andrew's still going to be a player as such. I felt Andrew's playing times probably not being where he would like it to be but I didn't want to lose him from the club.
“He's doing a wee bit with the 19s now, he's done his badges and he's on the ladder getting his badges. I just think he's got too much to offer on the training park as well and I'm not going to say Andrew's not going to play part in games, he will, he will but predominantly making that transition from player to coach.
“I'm delighted that he's accepted the position but he's still going to do a lot on the training park for us and he leads by example, but hopefully I can start Andrew off on his coaching journey. He'll bring a lot, he'll sit in all our meetings.
“He's such a good professional, he understands the game. So I think it's a good role for both. He’s someone that we really, really respect at the club, someone I feel will help us every day in training and someone I feel will be able to help us on a match day, whether that's in the dugout or on the park, so that's probably the only difference now.”