Hereford is like my second home says Guinan

Steve Guinan has been telling the Western Daily Press that as well as playing football with Hereford United he is hoping to learn enough about the sport to be able to get into management. As well as taking a short football management course at Warwick University this summer, he is about to start another year at Gloucester University on the way to a Sports Science degree.

"Hereford is like my second home. By the time my contract finishes I will have been here for longer than at any club except Nottingham Forest, where I started," said the much travelled Guinan.

"I had quite a few other options but I just weighed them all up and decided that this was the best place for me.

"The biggest selling point was that I am getting involved on the coaching side and that was probably what swung it for me.

"I have done a few sessions with the strikers and they seem to have responded well to it all. I am also bringing in some of the Sports Science I have learned from my degree with the University of Gloucestershire.

"A lot of the younger lads haven't worked with nutritionists before and so I have helped them by bringing in menu plans.

"I am five years into the course and so I will have finished it by the time my contract is up at Hereford.

"There was a chance to do some coaching at another club but that would have meant upping sticks and moving hundreds of miles away."

Guinan spoke about his time at Warwick which he was joined by, amidst others, former Bull Keith Downing.

"It was good for me because at 31 I was the youngest on it by a long way. It's also good to build up contacts which you might need in the future."

"My contract will take me until I am 33 and can see me playing on until I am 35. We have had our body fats measured in the last few days and I have less body fat than some of the 18-year-olds.

"I have also beaten some of them in the running so I am not doing too badly."

Guinan likes to score and was disappointed with a disallowed goal in the friendly against West Brom recently.

"We went in at half-time at 0-0 and we knew we should have been 1-0 up. We looked at the video afterwards and there was no way I was offside."

Guinan also spoke about several of the new faces at Edgar Street, firstly Clint Easton.

"I was really pleased about that. I can remember playing against him for Cheltenham against Wycombe in the play-off semi-finals. He can be an important player for us."

And secondly John McCombe, whose brother is at Bristol City.

"I have had many battles with his brother and I knew he (John) was Jamie's brother as soon as I saw him although he has probably got a bit more muscle.

"If he can be anywhere near as good as Jamie we will have a hell of a player.

"We have lost a few players but it is always good to bring in some new blood and maybe that's what we needed."

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