Dennis Wyness looking for more action after years of chronic shyness

Published on Friday 5 March 2010 22:33

THE quiet life for the quiet man. But he would rather it did not last.

Dennis Wyness made such a habit of avoiding media interviews, or attention in general, that they used to joke in Inverness that a fire exit at the Caledonian Stadium would be named after him. With due respect to Dumbarton, whatever exploits Wyness achieves there between now and the end of the season is unlikely to register highly on Scottish football's Richter scale.

The striker dearly hopes it will strike a chord with other clubs, though, so he can be afforded a return to full-time football.

"I wouldn't mind the attention now; I would rather have that problem because it would mean I was playing at a high level," Wyness laughed yesterday when recalling the shyness-induced incidents of earlier in his career.

"Those stories were all true, I would do anything to avoid the spotlight back then, sneaking out side doors and the like. It was down to nothing more than just being a quiet lad.

"We will wait and see what the end of the season holds. I still wanted to play full-time football when I was released by St Mirren last month but it was only part-time offers I had."

Wyness is certainly not sceptical towards the Second Division, in which he stresses there are "a lot of good players, a lot of players who have played at a higher level and a lot of good youngsters".

But his current surroundings represent something of a culture shock, understandably, as he approached his 33rd birthday.

"I left school at 16 to sign for Aberdeen, so football is all I have ever known," he explained. "Now, I am training until ten o'clock at night, twice a week, and trying to keep myself fit in the gym the rest of the time. It has taken a fair bit of getting used to.

"My wife Hazel has been working so I have got used to watching our three kids, school runs, nursery runs and things like that. It has been different, but I have enjoyed it."

Wyness admits he "should have" seriously considered his post-football options before now. At the end of this campaign, depending what offers are available, he admits he could well be seeking employment in an altogether different industry.

"The years have flown by," admitted Caledonian Thistle's record goalscorer. He played in the famous victory for the Highland side over Celtic a decade ago but arguably has more fond memories of the sequel.

In March 2003, Martin O'Neill's Celtic were bundled out of the Scottish Cup in Inverness with Wyness the only scorer. That period in his career is understandably regarded as his finest.

"Inverness were in the First Division, we had a great group of players and I was scoring goals," Wyness recalled. The forward regards it as unfortunate that the architect of such success, the former manager Steve Paterson, now appears lost to football.

"I was at a dinner last month to celebrate the tenth anniversary of that first Celtic win and met 'Pele' there, he was looking well again. He is happy enough, working away in social work, but he is a great manager and it is a real shame that he is out of football.

"He built the core of a team at Inverness that lasted for years to come; Mark Brown, Bobby Mann, Barry Robson, Roy McBain, Russell Duncan, Stuart McCaffrey, Barry Wilson. Everyone wanted to play for him because of the great team spirit he could produce.

"I read his book recently which brought his personal problems home to me. I hadn't nearly realised the extent of them at all."

Ironically, Wyness opened his Dumbarton scoring account in a midweek defeat to a Peterhead team which included Messrs Mann and Wilson.

Craig Levein persuaded Wyness to swap the tranquillity of the Highlands for Hearts seven years ago. "He is a great manager, ideal for the Scotland job; I wasn't surprised at all when the SFA appointed him," the striker admitted. Yet Wyness and Hearts never settled as a perfect fit; the player struggled for a regular starting slot despite the odd moment of glory, including a goal in the Uefa Cup win in Basle.

"I have a slight regret that I didn't play as well or as often as I could have," he recalled. "But not one regret about going there. Hearts are a massive club, it was a great experience."

Wyness rather bluntly concedes it is "not the most likely" scenario that a full-time club will step in with an offer when his Dumbarton deal expires at the end of the current campaign. One of the Scottish Football League's most prolific ever marksmen is honest enough to admit his career is winding down.

Secretly, though, he would give anything to be the name on everybody's lips once again.