Stephen Frail

Football player infobox
playername = Stephen Frail


fullname = Stephen Charles Frail
height = height|ft=5|in=9
nickname = Shaggy
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1969|8|10
cityofbirth = Glasgow
countryofbirth = Scotland
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Right Back, Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Possilpark YM
years = 1985–1994 1994–1998 1998–2000 2000–2001 2001–2002
clubs = Dundee fc|Heart of Midlothian Tranmere Rovers St Johnstone Morton
caps(goals) = 99 (1) 54 (4) 14 (0) 15 (0) 24 (0)
manageryears = 2007–2008
2008
managerclubs = fc|Heart of Midlothian (with Anatoly Korobochka)
fc|Heart of Midlothian (caretaker)

Stephen Charles Frail (born 10 August 1969, in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is currently unemployed after parting company with Heart of Midlothian.

Playing career

Frail began his career with Archie Knox's Dundee in 1985, gradually developing into a first-team player by the end of the decade. He helped the Dens Park side to victory in the inaugural Scottish Challenge Cup in 1990–91, however his progress was hindered by a serious knee ligament injury, causing him to miss almost an entire season. cite news|address=http://tranmererovers.rivals.net/default.asp?sid=930&p=2&stid=8377097|title=Where are they now? Stephen Frail|publisher=RoversRearGuard|access date=6 April|access year=2007,]

Frail joined Hearts in a £130,000 deal in March 1994 and his form during the 1994–95 season as a right wingback led to media speculation of a call-up to the Scottish national side. Injury continued to hinder him though and in an away match at Dundee United on 21 March 1995 he suffered similar knee ligament damage to that he sustained while with Dundee. He missed the entire 1995–96 season and upon his return to fitness found his previous role in the team taken by Gary Locke.Unable to maintain a permanent position in the team he filled-in as a defensive midfielder when required as well as deputising for Locke but left Edinburgh for Merseyside when Tranmere Rovers paid £90,000 for his services in January 1998.

Following a familiar pattern, Frail's time with Tranmere was decimated by injuries and he made less than 30 total appearances during his two seasons with the club. He is best remembered for his involvement in a controversial incident in an FA Cup tie with Sunderland, when a bureaucratic mix-up resulted in him being substituted on for Clint Hill who, unbeknown to Frail, had just been sent-off for a second bookable offence. After several minutes of commotion another player left the field to ensure Tranmere didn't avoid their punishment.

Frail returned to Scotland with St Johnstone in 2000, signed for a second time by his former Hearts manager Sandy Clark. After a single season in Perth he moved to Greenock side Morton.

Coaching career

While at Morton, Frail began to become involved in coaching, firstly under Peter Cormack then former team-mate at Hearts Dave McPherson. He retired from his playing role at the end of the 2001–02 season and became a full-time assistant to Morton's third manager within the year, John McCormack. McCormack was sacked in 2004, and Frail and the rest of the coaching staff left with him. Later that year, after attending Hearts UEFA Cup tie with Sporting Braga, he was invited to join their coaching staff by then manager Craig Levein. Initially coach of the under-19 side, he was promoted to become assistant coach when John McGlynn left to manage Raith Rovers in 2006.

Frail, along with sporting director Anatoly Korobochka, took temporary charge of Hearts' first team in March 2007 after the departure of Valdas Ivanauskas. It was confirmed in June 2007 that Frail and Korobochka would take charge of the Jambos for the 2007–08 season with Bulgarian Angel Cervenkov coming in as assistant, though it was left ambiguous which one of the pair had responsibility for team selection. After poor form, which saw Hearts drop to tenth in the SPL, Frail was promoted to caretaker manager in January 2008 as the club planned to appoint a new permanent manager. It has been announced Frail will be replaced as manager at the end of the 07/08 season. [cite news |title = Hearts to search for new manager | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/heart_of_midlothian/7166958.stm | publisher = BBC Sport | date = 2008-01-01. | accessdate = 2008-01-10]

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=11104|name=Stephen Frail
* [http://www.londonhearts.com/scores/players/frailstephen.html Appearances] at londonhearts.com

Persondata
NAME=Frail, Stephen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Scottish footballer
DATE OF BIRTH=August 10, 1969
PLACE OF BIRTH=Glasgow, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=