BACK WHERE HE BELONGS - JORDAN MOORE

When Jordan Moore ended his playing career at Tannadice, he promised he would be back at Tannadice within five years.

At the time he intended to get back to full fitness and come back and repay the Club for the way it had looked after him during his recovery from cancer treatment. Jordan has made it back to Tannadice, but it is in a new, non-playing role of Head of Talent ID and Recruitment for the Youth Academy.

Jordan is perhaps the ideal person to advise young potentials coming into the Academy of the pitfalls of life as an Academy footballer as well as the standards expected at Dundee United saying, "It's a role that suits me I guess because I came through the ranks and I know the standards that are required to graduate at this Club."

Life has come with obvious pressures for Jordan, but this role will bring its own level of stress. Jordan says, "I want young players to have a better career than I did and it is part of my role to make them aware how good a club Dundee United is - it looks after you all the way through from the moment you come in until you leave - and help them understand what is required to make it through the Youth Academy."

Jordan has forged a bond with Academy Director Andy Goldie that allows him to learn from Andy while getting on with the job of securing future talent.

"Andy has put in place a scouting network and the scouts will identify players. I will then make the decision as to whether they should come in on trial and at that point the coaches will have the final say as to whether they will become part of the Club.

"I know exactly what we are looking for in a player for the Youth Academy. Andy has the final say, and I have already learned a lot from him. Although it is a new role to me, I am enjoying the experience and learning from his professionalism.

"My best attribute will be selling the Club and how good an environment there is here. It's a massive club - one of the biggest in Scotland - and if we get the Academy right then, the first-team will also be for the future."

Jordan is already visualising the day when one of his prospects follow his footsteps all the way into the first-team squad, saying, "When one of the boys come through and play in the first team it will be a proud moment for sure but to get there they have to know what is required, what is expected of Dundee United players. The best bit of advice I can give is for all young players to enjoy each training session because you never know what is around the corner."

Tough decisions will be part and parcel of Jordan's role, but this is again something he knows more about than most. When he recaps the reality of the end of his playing career, it was about making correct decisions.

Jordan said, "My body was getting worse and worse. The more knocks I was getting, the harder it got to deal with the pain each night. I couldn't get the sharpness back, and I was dropping to lower and lower levels, and it was getting harder to give my all.

"When I left United, the belief was still there. I had scored four hat tricks in four games, and I had my confidence back, I made a bad decision about my next move. Finally, I was doing well in Thailand and had offers of work over there, and although I enjoyed it, it was time to come home. I had been doing a bit of recruitment and scouting for other clubs down south when I got the offer to come here. I jumped at the chance, and I am delighted to be back at Tannadice and determined to help bring the next batch of young Terrors through the ranks.”

Life has challenged Jordan Moore several times, and he will use this experience alongside his passion for United to find the right raw talent for the benefit of Dundee United’s future.

 Jordan's interview is available to ArabZONE members now. The interview will be free to view from Sunday 21 April on our youtube channel - subscribe here.