- Michael Oliver (footballer)
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Michael Oliver Personal information Full name Michael Oliver Date of birth 16 November 1957 Place of birth Kirkintilloch, Scotland Playing position Defender Club information Current club Scotland (National Team Scout) Youth career Campsie Black Watch Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1978–1983 Falkirk 79 (6) 1983–1984 Cowdenbeath 39 (4) 1984–1985 Queen of the South 42 (2) 1985–1986 Stenhousemuir 2 (0) 1986 Albion Rovers 2 (0) 1986 Stranraer 1 (0) 1986–1987 East Stirlingshire 5 (0) 1987–1988 Queen of the South 4 (0) 1988–1990 Albion Rovers 61 (3) 1990–1991 Arbroath 13 (0) Teams managed 1991–1992 Albion Rovers * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Michael Oliver (born 16 November 1957 in Kirkintilloch near Glasgow) is a former Scottish football player and manager. Oliver now holds the position as national team scout for the Scotland national football team, reporting directly to the national coach Craig Levein. Oliver is responsible for all aspects of player assessment and identification as well as intelligence on all the Scottish national team's opposition. Oliver, who has spent all of his life in football in various roles, is well known in football circles and is widely regarded among experts, managers and coaches for his knowledge and understanding of the game and especially his ability to recognise talent. Most of the top clubs in the UK have used Oliver in some capacity over the last 10 years.
Oliver had a journeyman career as a player, playing for eight different Scottish Football League clubs in 10 separate spells although some people[who?] say that Oliver failed to reach the levels predicted as a youngster after captaining juvenile side Campsie Black Watch before moving into the senior game. Oliver built a good reputation the professional game as an honest, hardworking, dependable, and athletic central defender. Oliver's career started well, playing in the Scottish Premier League with Falkirk, where he was a regular in the first team spending five seasons before moving to Cowdenbeath, where he played in defence alongside a young Craig Levein.Oliver also had successful spells at QOS and Albion Rovers, winning the Division 2 championship. [1] Oliver had ambitions to go into coaching and is a graduate of the SFA coaching school at Largs in Scotland where coaches like Jose Maurinho and Alex Ferguson chose to study . Oliver was appointed manager of Albion Rovers[1] in 1991. He also worked as assistant manager to Gordon Dalziel at Ayr United, where he was building a growing reputation as a coach and especially in developing young players. Oliver then moved to be general manager at Clydebank.[1]
Since leaving the latter of those positions, Oliver has build up a great reputation in the area of player identification and has worked as a scout for Dundee United, Wigan Athletic and Birmingham City.[1] Oliver was hired by the Scottish Football Association soon after Craig Levein was appointed as national team manager.[1] Levein explained at the time of Oliver's appointment that he wants to inform his players about all of their opponents, which necessitated the hiring of a full-time scout.[1]
References
Albion Rovers F.C. – managers Montgomery (1920–22) · Reid (1922–29) · Lees (1929–35) · Weir (1935–37) · Lees (1937–49) · Beath (1950–52) · Fagan (1952–53) · Hutton (1953–61) · McGill (1961–62) · Telfer (1962–65) · Flavell (1965–66) · Stewart (1966–68) · Harrower (1969) · Flavell (1969–72) · Beattie (1972–73) · Brand (1973–74) · Caldwell (1974–76) · Goodwin (1976–81) · Hood (1981) · Baker (1981–1982) · Whiteford (1982) · Ferguson (1982–83) · Wilson (1983–84) · Rooney (1984) · Ritchie (1984) · Baker (1984–1985) · Franchetti (1985–1986) · Gemmell (1986–1987) · Provan (1987–91) · Oliver (1991–92) · McLaren (1992–93) · Gemmell (1993–94) · Spence (1994–95) · Crease (1995–96) · Moore (1996–98) · McLaren (1998–99) · Shanks (1999–2000) · McVeigh (2000–02) · Hetherston (2002–03) · McAllister (2003–05) · Lindsay (2005) · Chapman (2005–07) · McCormack (2007–08) · Martin (2008–)
Categories:- 1957 births
- Living people
- People from Kirkintilloch
- Association football defenders
- Scottish footballers
- Falkirk F.C. players
- Cowdenbeath F.C. players
- Queen of the South F.C. players
- Stenhousemuir F.C. players
- Albion Rovers F.C. players
- Stranraer F.C. players
- East Stirlingshire F.C. players
- Arbroath F.C. players
- Scottish Football League players
- Scottish football managers
- Albion Rovers F.C. managers
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