One of the Owen Coyle's closest allies in the game is Sandy Stewart.

The 44-year-old Scot, who has taken up the assistant manager's position, has enjoyed a fantastic working relationship with the Gaffer for a number of years, both as a player and now as a coach.

The pair were team-mates at Airdrieonians in the 1990s and Stewart, who later became manager of the newly formed Airdrie United when the Lanarkshire club went into liquidation, had Coyle as his side-kick.

Although the roles have now been reversed, the understanding has always remained the same. Stewart worked under Coyle at both St Johnstone and Burnley and he has revealed why he had no hesitations in accepting the opportunity to rekindle that partnership at the Reebok.

Stewart said: "The two of us used to travel together as players - and he was always late! He used to always pick me up in the mornings and you could bet that he would always turn up ten minutes after the time that he said he would be. That was how our relationship started and it just moved on from there.

"We would always talk as players, discussing football when we would travel to and from games. Although I was a defender and he was a striker, we had the same type of ideas. We were very disciplined and thought about the game in the same manner.

"Owen came back to play for me later at Airdrie United and he was always my highest goalscorer. He was very good to work with and now he is great to work for."

Stewart's background in football started over 20 years ago, but he had to bide his time before becoming a professional. He earned his keep working on the shipyards up until being offered the opportunity to forge a long and thriving career as a central defender.

"I was a late developer and I didn't play the game until I was 22, so for the likes of me, it was just an achievement to be a professional footballer. I can be proud of what I did as a player given that I was relatively successful," he explained, modestly.

"I joined Heart of Midlothian in 1987, which was quite late to get a first professional contract. I had a year and three quarters there before I went to Kilmarnock on loan, but I only played seven games. I moved to Airdrieonians and for the best part of 17 years I was there - 12 as a player and five as a player-manager.

"It was obviously the longest place that I stayed in my career but I did have a good year at Partick Thistle in between when we won the Scottish Second Division. But as I say, Airdrieonians was where I spent the bulk of my career and I have plenty of happy memories.

"We were a provincial club playing most of the time in the Scottish First Division, and we did have two seasons in the Premier League. We reached two FA Cup finals, five League Cup semi-finals but unfortunately lost them all and we also played in Europe against Sparta Prague.

"The squad contained a great bunch of lads and there was a tremendous team spirit. At that time there wasn't a lot of movement with players because the Bosman rule didn't exist, so during my time there I spent eight years with the same several players. There was a great bond between us all and that's why we did so well. Every year the manager would add one or two players and lose one or two - Owen Coyle was one of those when he came down to Bolton as a player.

"As a group of players, who were very close-knit, it was disappointing that we never managed to get our hands on any silverware. But the two cup final defeats were against the Old Firm, and if you are reaching finals then you want to be playing against Rangers and Celtic.

"I was captain for the one with Rangers which they won 2-1. The goalscorers that day were Mark Hateley and Ally McCoist, but they also had the likes of Andy Goram, Ian Durrant and Gary Stevens so they had a very strong team at that time.

"The other in 1995 was against Celtic, and that was probably more disappointing. They were going through a bad time and if we had played like we were capable of then we would have a really good chance of winning the trophy. Unfortunately for us, Pierre van Hooijdonk scored after ten minutes and that turned out to be the only goal of the game. We felt as if we had let ourselves down a little bit, but it had been a tremendous achievement to reach that far."

Many professional footballers seek a vocation away from the game once the time comes to hang up their boots, but the Bellshill-born man knew that coaching always beckoned once his playing days were over.

Fortunately for Stewart the process of moving from player to coach came as a gradual transition, allowing him to sharpen his training drills and skills at a time when he was still lacing his boots on a Saturday afternoon.

He said: "You get some players that are very quiet and there are others that are boisterous, and I probably fell into the latter category. I always looked at football in a coaching capacity and that was why I took my badges when I was quite young.

"It was something that I always wanted to do when I finished my playing career. I had played under a particularly good manager in Alex MacDonald for eight years and I liked his style. His man management and the way he handled his players was second to none and I always imagined myself in that position.

"I was fortunate enough that I became a player-coach, so I was doing both - it wasn't a case of one day waking up and then realising that I didn't play anymore. I was happy with that because I wanted to play until as late as possible.

"Airdrieonians went bust after suffering financial problems and reformed as Airdrie United. I was offered the opportunity to become manager and it was then that I actually brought Owen back as a player-assistant manager. We got promoted to the First Division and managed to consolidate in mid-table, which was no mean feat especially for a club that had only formed two years previous.

"After I left Airdrie, I got the chance to move to St Johnstone to work with Owen, who had taken up the manager's job there. We had success and that resulted in Owen leaving for Burnley. I became caretaker manager and actually won the Scottish Challenge Cup in my only game in charge. It's a good pub quiz question - which manager won a cup final in his only game in charge?

"I had the chance to stay on but I wanted to try England because I never got the chance as a player. The Championship was a big challenge coming from the First Division in Scotland. There's no doubt about it that the quality is better. There's an abundance of talent in this country and although there are plenty of good players in Scotland, there's certainly not as many.

"But our ultimate aim was to work in the Premier League. We wanted to impress and be successful and we achieved that with Burnley, but we never knew what opportunity lay around the corner. Now we want to continue that here and have the exact same success at Bolton."

Stewart is a self-confessed footballing purist, who likes to see the game played in an attractive and entertaining manner. The Clarets, under the stewardship of Coyle, were critically acclaimed for their approach and Stewart is hopeful that they will be able to leave Bolton Wanderers supporters with smiles on their faces.

He explained: "As the players will find, we are a happy bunch. A few boys have joined us at the club and we all worked well together at Burnley. We have a laugh and a joke and do our business with a smile on our faces but likewise we know what the serious business is.

"I'm particularly like the manager. We like to play with wingers who take on full-backs and get plenty of crosses into the box. Other teams don't always give you an opportunity to do that so you have to have other game plans, and that's why I'd like to think that we are two dimensional. We got a lot of plaudits at Burnley for playing exciting football and I'd like to think that we will get the same here because we believe that Bolton can play exciting football.

"I'd like to say that I am a player friendly coach. I'm studious and I think about the game. I do believe that you have to look at the way other teams operate and try to exploit their weaknesses but essentially it's all about working and improving your own team's strengths.

"We'd like to think that most of the time it is what we do on the pitch that will determine the outcome of matches. Football is all about expressing yourself and if we can make the players play with a smile on their face then we will get the best out of them."