“We’ve got four amazing left wingers on our team and nobody that seems to want to play on the right,” jokes Rabin Omar, the current manager of Scoutable United, a Glasgow-based team aimed at unearthing and showcasing multi-ethnic footballing talent within the city.
“In fact, one of them got a move to Berwick so that takes the pressure off of me slightly.”
Whilst the overriding role for many head coaches or managers throughout the footballing pyramid is to navigate victories and lift trophies, this statement from Rabin reflects the alternative requirements of his job. Rabin’s aim is to instead pass on both positive footballing and life behaviours that will provide a platform for his young players to move on to bigger and better things.
“My role doesn’t require me to build a ten-year plan or have a rigid way of playing. The ultimate aim is to put my players into the physical and mental space where they can go out on trial to a higher club in the summer and get picked up. As a coach, I need to ensure that the system we play showcases the players abilities. There’s no point in fitting players into positions and asking them to do things that aren’t going to showcase their strengths in the hope of instead scraping out a few wins.
“A pathway to professional or full-time football has to be the focus,” says Rabin, who, given his background and story, you can’t help but feel is the perfect person to pass on these valuable lessons.
“I moved to Scotland aged around 9 from Holland, which is where I was born. Before that, my parents left Iraq with my older brother as it was just off the back of Saddam Hussein’s reign and there was a lot of political unrest and they wanted to raise a family under better circumstances. We were in the east end of Glasgow, still struggling but what my mum has been through to get to where we are now in itself is absolutely incredible.
“In Holland I didn’t play 11-aside but they did in Scotland and I remember getting kicked all over the pitch and breathing out my arse, the football was completely different from what I had been exposed to in Holland. At that age I didn’t think I’d get a chance to experience full-time football. I was a six out of ten in every match, a steady Eddie. I then joined the Jimmy Johnstone Academy, and it completely changed my life. The coaches we had didn’t accept anything half-hearted or mediocre. There was no turning up late, sleeping in for games, it was professional and if you showed a bad attitude then you knew you were getting rinsed. For a club at boys club level, the professionalism and lessons of discipline even at that age was unbelievable.”
An untimely hamstring injury saw Rabin in the stands for almost eight months before the team eventually folded. Thereafter, Rabin competed in the Achieve More Scotland initiative, a Friday night league which saw different areas of Glasgow compete against each other. It also resulted in a giant leap towards professional football.
“I played for the Dennistoun area and we’d play against the likes of Possil and Knightswood. It was under 23 at the time so you were playing against men, and I was only 16. I was doing really well, scoring lots of goals and a most of the coaches were either current or ex-players so they had a lot of contacts. Ex-Partick Thistle and Ayr United player Steven Bell was my coach at the time and he phoned his mate who took me in to Partick Thistle. I scored lots of goals, but the only issue was I was trying to get in ahead of Kevin Nisbet. Even at that age, you could just tell he was a cut above the rest.”
Confidence levels and belief in one’s own ability, Rabin feels, are traits that often separate youngsters at that age and the likelihood of them reaching first-team football. What is confidence though? Whilst some describe it as feeling as if they are the best person on the pitch and others, as they progress throughout their career, instead find confidence through detaching their self-worth from their performances, Rabin defined where his was sourced from.
“I never had the level of confidence where I thought I was the best player on the pitch, but I had confidence in knowing I was a hard worker and had a good attitude. I knew if I wasn’t having a good game, I could still make it as hard as possible for my opponents to have a bad game.
“Some players have that stability in their confidence where they’ve got a history of performing well, which gives you the security. When you don’t have that catalogue of evidence that you can cut it at a certain level, like when you’re a youngster, you need to go into games fearless. When I made my debut for Annan, my confidence came from a lack of fear because at that stage in my career I wasn’t afraid to get on the ball. I knew if I misplaced a pass I’d get back in and do my best to win it back. How your coaches interact with you can also play a big part in your level of confidence. At that time I had John Joyce who thought the world of me so I knew if I played badly, he wouldn’t take me out of the squad. That allowed me to go out without fear.”
Whilst during that aforementioned fearless spell in which Rabin broke through with Annan, shining in their 4–1 victory over Premiership side Hamilton, there were rumours of full-time clubs looking to capture his signature, however both he and his inner circle decided it would instead be more beneficial to finish his studies at Glasgow University in Pharmacology. The opportunity for full-time football did come after completing his masters however, but Rabin admits it was a disappointing period.
“It started off well actually but I honestly didn’t realise the difference between full-time and part-time football and the impact it has on your body. I’d gone from playing with Elgin City and going up for games at the weekend and training with the Glasgow Uni team twice a week to training full-time at a decent level. I was always knackered and almost felt as if I had to write off the first six months. Then David Hopkins, the manager who signed me, left the club and there were some things going on at the club behind the scenes which meant it probably wasn’t a good club to be at during that time.
“Looking back, I realise I also wasn’t mentally ready for that environment. I did quite well coming off the bench and then got given my first start against Inverness and got sent off 15 minutes into the game. This was the match that was supposed to be my big break into the team. I remembered breaking down in the dressing room and it affected me for about two weeks after that, all I could think about were the yellows, the tackle, how I’d ruined my chances. I wasn’t mentally ready to deal with that level of emotion.”
Now, coaching at Scoutable United whilst playing for Troon, the sheer range of experience and emotion that comes with a career playing football, this has allowed Rabin to speak with genuine authority to his players in relation to the behaviours that are needed to progress to a higher level.
“I’m quite intense as a coach, pretty demanding of my players. It’s only because think the world of them and I’d be doing a disservice to them and their potential careers if I wasn’t intense and pushing them to the limit.
“Some of them have a really bright future ahead of them. We had young Dean (Rhappozzoh) who signed for Livingston, a few in at Berwick Rangers and a few others on trial at different senior teams.”
Aiming to offer more diversity to the Scottish footballing leagues, professionalism is at the heart of the lessons Rabin is aiming to put across to his players.
“There tends to be a perception toward ethnic groups that the culture is pretty different from white culture. At Scoutables we’re wanting to make it easier for those from an ethnic backgrounds to transition into the game in Scotland. The boys I’m coaching need to understand that you can’t be late, can’t get on the wrong bus, can’t forget your boots. These are lessons that I learnt at the Jimmy Johnstone Academy and they are not just applicable to football but life too. We only get them twice a week, once to train and once for a match, so in the short time we have with them we want to teach them things they can do away from training and apply to their day-to-day life.
“These boys are all young, hungry, want to be professionals and have the ability, it’s up to us to help them get ready for it.”
Quick-fire Questions:
Describe yourself in three words: Energetic, organised and caring.
How would your friends and family describe you in three words? Again energetic, smiley and determined.
Are you more introverted or extroverted? Extroverted.
Biggest personality strength? Communicating with different people — old, young, different backgrounds. I’m socially flexible.
Biggest personality weakness? Emotional regulation, but I’m working on it! I’m reading more about how the mind works, religious texts and praying more.
Best moment of your career/life? In terms of my footballing career, knocking out Hamilton who were in the Premiership. In my life, it would be graduating from university with my mum and dad both watching on.
Worst moment of your career/life? In football it’s been the last few years to be honest. I’m not playing at the level I did three or four years ago. I had an injury in my hip and it took a while to get surgery and rehab, but I feel like I am on the right path now.
What is your death-row meal?
Starter: Chips and curry sauce.
Main: Kurdish kebab, which is sliced lamb skewers.
Dessert: Sticky toffee pudding with a bit of vanilla ice cream.
Drink: Nutella milkshake.
Best piece of advice you have ever been given? Always be 20 minutes early.
