Thursday 3rd August 2017
CALUM GALLAGHER has spent his close season handing out footballing lessons to kids.
He now hopes he’s going to do that to the rest of the Championship.
The winger, who joined from St Mirren last season, is keen to be more of a regular in the Dumbarton line-up in the coming league campaign.
He arrived in January only to find starting opportunities limited due to the form of some players.
Those guys have now moved on, and Calum hopes that Sons’ loss is his gain, leading to chances to start.
He may have gone part-time with Dumbarton – but he’s kept a ball at his feet away from training by coaching at one-to-one summer football camps in Glasgow.
Calum told www.dumbartonfootballclub.com as part of #sons24: “I’ve been working on it with a few other current professional players. It keeps me kicking a ball during the day.
“It’s almost as if I’m still full-time, as you can spend three to five hours coaching every day, passing on your knowledge to stars of the future.
“The youngest participant in the camp is about five or six, while some others are in their 20s. It’s a range of people from beginners to boys who are playing professionally.
“I’m raring to go this season. The boys have had a good pre-season in terms of fitness – we’ve picked up a few niggles along the way, but everybody is looking to be fit for the start of the league.
“Last season wasn’t ideal for me in terms of playing time. However, I spoke to the manager and it was more to do with the fact that boys who played in my position were finding form.
“Robert Thomson couldn’t stop scoring, Andy Stirling and Sam Stanton were on another planet at times, and Christian Nade was doing well too.
“So it was a bit of tough luck for me – when I came in, the boys picked their game up and I couldn’t really have any complaints.
“But the gaffer saw what I could do in training, and in the games I did play, and wanted to keep me here. I was really pleased to get the opportunity.”
As well as more regular first-team football, Calum has goals for the team – but is keeping his feet on the ground.
He continued: “On a personal note, my goal is really to bed myself into the team and make myself one of the first names on the teamsheet.
“Another one is to keep finding the net. I scored twice during pre-season and I’m looking to continue that in the coming weeks and months.
“As a team, the target has to be to finish as high up the table as we can. We’ve built a new team quickly and built up an understanding which hopefully we will carry into games.
“Our initial goal is to look up the way instead of down, but the most important thing is to make sure we are here next year.”
Calum is also in familiar company in his bid to meet those ambitions. He, Tom Walsh and Kyle Hutton are now together with their THIRD different club.
And he is confident that the two close season recruits will be a success in Dumbarton colours.
Calum added: “Tom and I were talking about this just before Kyle signed. The three of us seem to follow each other about the clubs.
“We were together at St Mirren, Rangers and now Dumbarton. We know what to expect from each other, what kind of runs each other will make, and how we like to do things on the pitch.
“It’s almost become second nature to us. You just trust players when you’ve got to know them well enough.
“They’re both terrific additions to the squad and I’m convinced they’ll have a great impact.”
Andy Galloway