He has a proven track record of developing talent and building competitive teams in the Women's Super League (WSL). His dedication to the sport and ability to inspire players has made him a prominent figure in women's football.
In an exclusive interview with Tribalfootball, we discussed various topics regarding his career, the teams he has managed, and more.
A LOOK BACK AT HIS CAREER
The Scottish coach has been in charge of different teams in both men's and women's football, including Hibernian, Preston Athletic, Bristol City, Manchester United, Everton, and Leicester. Reflecting on these experiences, Kirk shared his thoughts on the highlights and challenges of his career:
“It’s a very good question and it’s hard for me to answer it. The best experience I would consider is my time with Everton, the whole journey there, and how we reached the FA Cup Final. It was a unique journey for me and the players because it’s rare for a team outside the top four to achieve what we did.
"Beating relegation with Leicester was also special because the points deficit we had with the other teams was enormous, and everyone was saying we would get relegated. These two are probably the biggest highlights of my coaching career so far.
"The most difficult period was losing my job at Everton. I created that pressure myself to get the team into the top half, and then 5th place and the FA Cup final made the expectations a bit unrealistic. I got sacked for losing three games against Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City in the first five games of the season. That was the toughest moment for me because I knew that despite those losses, we would still achieve our goals, and that was really frustrating for me.”
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN'S AND WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Kirk has worked in both men's and women's football, and he discussed the differences between the two:
“The main difference I found is that when you tell a man to do an exercise, he will do it, and that’s all. But if you tell a woman to do an exercise, she will ask you why before doing it, and this helps you a lot as a coach because it makes you better.
"I think things are changing now because society has changed, people have changed, and young players, whether male or female, are more interested in asking why. Comparing men's and women's football isn’t fair because men’s football has been established for many years with significant investment, whereas women’s football has only recently started gaining importance and investment from the FA and other bodies.”
INVESTMENT IN WOMEN'S FOOTBALL AND IT'S CHALLENGES
As someone who knows women's football well, Kirk shared his thoughts on the recent investment in the women's game and the main challenges for its future:
“The investments that have been made are fantastic, and more people are understanding the importance and beauty of women’s football. People are also seeing the long-term benefits of investing in women’s football now. The main challenge for the future of women’s football, in my opinion, is the racism and sexism that currently exist in the football world towards women
"I think it will take a long time before we can eliminate it entirely. It’s a long process that requires a lot of patience, but I think we need to address and fix the social media problem and the hate and sexism that come with it in women’s football.”
FUTURE PLANS AND EXPERIENCES AT MAN UTD
As a coach who has worked in both men’s and women’s football, Kirk also shared his desire and plans for the future:
“Women’s football was the best experience for me, but I think that’s because I was working at the highest level there, and you can make a greater impact in women’s football, as I did. Also, due to what happened at Leicester, I feel I have unfinished business in the women’s game, so I want to continue working there.”
During his career, Kirk had the chance to work at one of the biggest clubs in the world, Manchester United, and he shared more about his experience:
“I was a Manchester United supporter, so I knew very well the dimension of the club and how big it was. But to be honest, you don’t realize how big it is until you get there and see the structure and the scale of the club yourself.
"It was a fantastic experience for me. It lasted five months because a job came up, and I wanted to be the number one and didn’t want to continue working as an assistant coach. With the new owners, I think they have a great future ahead. They have the right people in charge now. From the men’s side, they have the right people, and I hope they will invest the same in the women’s side. I am sure the club will have a great future, and this is a very important year for (Erik) Ten Hag. Their summer signings have been very good, in my opinion.”
YOUNG TALENT IN WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
As someone with deep knowledge of women’s football, we asked Kirk about some young talented female players who he thinks could become future stars:
“A future star for me is Denny Draper. She is 17 years old, playing at Leicester, and I think she is going to be a superstar and play for any big club in the world. She made her debut when she was 16 years old, under me when I was at Leicester.”
CHALLENGES AT LEICESTER AND MEDIA SCRUTINY
Kirk’s last experience was at Leicester, which ended on a difficult note with the club firing him after his relationship with one of his players became public. He opened up about that tough period and how he felt about the treatment he received from the British media:
“I have no issue with the club’s decision, and I think everyone could have handled it better. We could have made less noise and kept the investigation private. I think the way it was handled made it very public.
"It was a shock for me; everyone wanted to talk about it. I think the British media treated me with frustration because they have so many names of people who have done similar things, and they haven’t been able to prove it. If you speak to British journalists, they have a list of 20-30 names, but they vented their frustration on me because I accepted and told the truth, the same as the player.
"I had a lot of support from journalists, but yes, it was a really difficult time for me. That incident has made it really difficult for me to return to the game, and if I do, it will spark a lot of social media activity. I know it’s hard for a club to hire me now.”
THOUGHTS ON GARETH SOUTHGATE AND ENGLAND'S FUTURE
We also spoke about the England men’s national team’s future and their former coach Gareth Southgate:
“I think the criticism Gareth received was terrible in terms of how he was treated. English fans and media are tough because their expectations are very high in every competition. For me, Southgate did a great job; he did his best, and thanks to his work, the level of the England national team is much higher than it was when he first took the job.
"He has left the team in safe hands for the future because now England has a lot of very talented young players in the team.”
FUTURE PROSPECTS - STAYING IN ENGLAND OR MOVING ABROAD
Lastly, we spoke with Kirk about his future and whether he wants to stay in the UK or try a new experience abroad:
“Even when things were going well, I still wanted to work abroad at some point. I am open to working abroad to try a new life experience. To be honest with you, I don’t think the WSL will give me another job after what happened, so I will need to go elsewhere to rebuild my reputation, and that’s fine because I always wanted to work abroad.”