Paul Sturrock
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Paul Sturrock (born 10 October 1956, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland) is a former Scotland international footballer, and is known by fans as Luggy (from the Scots language word lugs, Eng: ears). He had a distinguished playing career at his favourite club, Dundee United; he played for them from 1974 to 1989 and featured heavily in European competition. In 385 appearances he scored 109 goals for the club. Sturrock was a striker and won 20 caps for his country, scoring eleven goals and playing in the World Cup finals. He is renowned for his use of the slang word "pointage", which seems to mean the obtaining of points in a league competition.
He once held the record for most goals in a Scottish Premier League fixture, scoring five times for Dundee United against Morton in 1984. Marco Negri equalled this in 1997, this time for Rangers against Dundee United; Kenny Miller did it in 2000 for the Ibrox club against St. Mirren; and then Kris Boyd became the fourth man to do it, scoring five for Kilmarnock against Dundee United in 2004.
Since retirement in 1989, he has become a coach and latterly a first team manager. He is one of the most qualified coaches in Europe, and he assessed current Chelsea manager José Mourinho at one point. In 1993, he became the manager of a First Division team, St Johnstone. During this time, he is reported to have suffered a heart attack, although he claims that he only suffered hyperventilation, brought on by tiredness and stress; nonetheless he guided them to promotion and was later appointed manager at Dundee United.
Sturrock shocked fans by resigning from the club in August 2000. Perhaps more shockingly, he made a bold move to manage Plymouth Argyle, a club which was struggling in the English Third Division. The following season, he guided them to the Division Three title with a record points total of 102. In October 2003, Sturrock had successfully taken Argyle back to the top of the Football League Second Division and left when Plymouth Argyle were only one win away from being promoted to the Football League Championship. As a result of his success at Home Park he has remained a folk hero and was named as the manager of Argyle's all time team. During the troubled reign of his successor Bobby Williamson Argyle fans often chanted 'We want Luggy'.
Sturrock was named as the successor to Gordon Strachan as manager of Southampton on 4 March 2004. On 23rd August 2004 it was announced that Sturrock was leaving the club 'by mutual consent', after a disappointing run of form and rumours of boardroom dissatisfaction with his management.
He was then appointed by League One club Sheffield Wednesday on September 23 2004, and he guided the club to the League One play-offs. After beating Brentford in the semi-final with an aggregate score of 3-1, Sturrock took Wednesday to the play-off final at the Millennium Stadium and beat Hartlepool United 4-2 after extra-time, winning promotion to the Championship.
Honours
As a player
(All with Dundee United)- Scottish League Cup - 1979/80, 1980/81
- Scottish Premier League - 1982/83
- UEFA Cup Runner-up - 1986/87
As a manager
- Scottish First Division - (St Johnstone) - 1996/97
- Football League Third Division - (Plymouth Argyle) - 2001/02
- Football League One play-off winner - (Sheffield Wednesday) - 2004/05
In January 2004, Sturrock came top of the Tissot Managers Performance League, which is run by the League Managers Association.
Management record
Up to 10 January 2006| Club | From | To | Games | Wins | Draws | Losses | Promotions | Relegations | Position when joined | Position when left |
| St Johnstone | 1 August 1993 | 5 September 1998 | 197 | 90 | 51 | 56 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Dundee United | 5 September 1998 | 7 August 2000 | 85 | 27 | 39 | 19 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Plymouth Argyle | 31 October 2000 | 4 March 2004 | 178 | 85 | 46 | 47 | 1 | 0 | 21st in Division Three | 1st in Division Two |
| Southampton | 4 March 2004 | 23 August 2004 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12th in Premiership | 10th in Premiership |
| Sheffield Wednesday | 23 September 2004 | |||||||||
| 73 | 26 | 21 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 13th in League One | 19th in Championship (current) | |||
External links
- [Paul Sturrock managerial statistics] at soccerbase.com
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