“They were a sleeping giant and Sheffield is a big city,” he says of Albion’s opponents this Saturday.
“There is a great rivalry between United and Wednesday and the people love their football and are very passionate about their clubs.
“Both get big crowds and the derby is a big game in the country, never mind in the city. There is no crossover – you are either red or blue and that’s it. Unfortunately, when I was there United couldn’t get out of League One while Wednesday were in the Championship. They still are, of course.”
David is pleased but surprised to note that the Blades have overtaken the Owls. “I think they have surprised everyone,” he says. “Before and after I left, they had changed managers a few times but never quite got the progress they wanted. But Chris Wilder has fast-forwarded the process and gone above and beyond what I think anyone expected.
“Where they are now is great testament to the work he has done. He is a Sheffield United fan and understands the club, understands the dynamics and what is required. He is a really good fit for them. I wasn’t as experienced as he is and didn’t understand the club as well as he does. He was a great appointment and has done a fantastic job.”
One of David’s players at United was winger Jamie Murphy, remembered with affection by Albion fans for his part in the 2016/17 promotion campaign. “He was a good young player who was still finding his way and learning the game,” David says.
“He had good qualities, there is no doubt about that, and his attributes were suited to a higher level than League One. He was still getting stronger and it was a very physical league, but the higher up he played, the better he was going to get.”
That was also true for defender Harry Maguire, now an England regular. “Harry was again young and relatively inexperienced. He was just a younger version of what he is now, physically imposing and learning on the pitch. He was a top guy and it was good to work with him on the training ground.”
Despite a winning start to David’s time at the Lane, results flat-lined and he left after 13 matches in charge. “I was very inexperienced as a coach and a manager and Sheffield United is a big club,” he says.
“It was my first taste of managing and I had been playing as little as a year before. I went into a big job where there had been a lot of changes. They were struggling to get out of League One but at the same time talking about reducing budgets and playing younger players, bringing academy players through.
“So they had gone from spending a bit of money on experienced players to focusing more on coaching and development. I had been coaching the under-23s at Everton and I think that was why they approached me.”
It was actually his second spell at the club. “I had trained with them for a couple of weeks as my playing career was winding down after I left Rangers and went there for them to have a look at me with the idea of signing a short-term playing contract but I had an offer from Everton and went back there instead, and still played a few games with their under-23s.”
The other end of his playing days found him starring for the ‘Purple Aces’ of the University of Evansville in the United States between 1988 and 1992 after he was awarded a soccer scholarship by the Indiana-based college. He won All-American honours in 1990 and even tied the school’s all-time scoring records as a forward, which will surprise those who remember the elegant defender of his days with Everton, Rangers and Scotland.
“I was playing at good semi-professional level in Scotland as well as for Scotland schoolboys but going to the States gave me an opportunity to continue my education and also play football, which I really wanted to do,” he explains. “It was great experience. I loved it and wouldn’t have changed it for anything.”
And the goalscoring, which included 28 successful strikes in 27 games in one season? “I started as a defender but a forward got injured and I was thrown up front and ended up scoring a lot of goals so I never really moved back. But when I came back to the UK I very quickly became a defender again.”
He played over 600 games for Falkirk, Hearts, Everton and Rangers and won 69 Scotland caps. “I had a great career and I was very fortunate to play for my local club, which was Falkirk, the club I supported, which was Rangers, Everton, which was a great club where I had seven or eight really good years, and also Hearts, which is another great club, as well as my country. If I could have picked my own career and the players I played with I couldn’t have done much better.”
His coaching career after leaving Sheffield United included spells assisting Mark Warburton at Brentford, Rangers and Nottingham Forest before an offer came from the Albion to take up his present role overseeing the club’s loan players.
“We have some really good players out on loan and there are high hopes for them so Brighton felt it was important to support them as well as they could,” he says. “I met the club and when the role was explained to me it sounded like a really good opportunity. I had heard good things about the club and the people.
“I have been doing the job for about two years and it has been a great challenge and a good experience. We have had some success with players coming through the programme and getting into the first team. John Morling at the academy and Dan Ashworth at first-team level have been very supportive and want the lads to have the best experience they can.”
He is involved in planning the loans as well as monitoring the players’ progress at their loan clubs.
“We think about where it would be good for the players to go but it has to be two-way with the other club.
“They have to be interested in our player, to know him and to have a plan for him. You can’t impose players on clubs. Every case and every player is different and a lot of work goes into finding the right club.
“Jayson Molumby, for example, was keen to go out and get experience of first-team football and we had to find out what level of interest there was. There was a lot because he’s a very good player and Millwall were keen.
“It seemed a very good fit for him and it has proved to be that and he has kept his place even though there has been a change of manager, which isn’t always ideal. He has continued to get minutes on the pitch and develop as a player and a person.”
Albion presently have 19 players out on loan at every level from non-League to Champions League, from Worthing to Istanbul. “All over the world, really,” David says. “A big part of the job is watching games and meeting the players, when you can to find out how they are doing off the pitch. It takes a bit of managing and co-ordinating but the club provide the support to enable us to do that.”
The fact that Alexis Mac Allister has been recalled from his loan with Boca Juniors means that there will be no more trips to Buenos Aires for a while, but there are still visits to see Alaves in Spain [Bojan Radulovic], Den Haag in Holland [Tudor Baluta] and St Pauli in Germany [Victor Gyokeres and Leo Ostigard] as well as Liga de Quito, Ecuador [Billy Arce].
Then there are the less exotic destinations such as Blackburn [Christian Walton], Leeds [Ben White] and Wigan [Leon Balogun and Jan Mlakar]. “I enjoy going to Leeds, to be honest. I like the way they play.
“But Boca Juniors in Buenos Aires was a great experience and Argentinos Juniors before that. The football is good over there and it is culturally very different and very interesting. Alexis is a really good person and a good player.
“St Pauli has a great atmosphere, a ground in the centre of Hamburg with very passionate fans who seem to enjoy their beer before, after and during a game. The team are not doing as well in terms of results as we would have liked, but our two lads are performing well and enjoying the club. The level is right and they are playing well in a tough league.
“It’s exciting seeing your young players out there doing well. The under-23s obviously have a part to play but if at some point the players outgrow that but are not quite ready for the first team, it’s important that we can give them a different experience to help their development.
“It pushes them, it challenges them and with luck it prepares them for the next step, which we hope is the first team at Brighton.”