The 47-year-old has only been at the club for six weeks but has already had a big influence.
Rangers set piece coach Scott Fry
The Lincoln City players dubbed him the new Austin MacPhee.
And after negotiating a bonus with the club chairman – they enjoyed an all-expenses paid night out thanks to his set-piece mastery. It’s fair to say, Scott Fry was a popular figure at Sincil Bank last season.
And one of the players who worked under him, Ethan Erhahon, is convinced he’ll have a similar impact at Rangers. Fry was headhunted by Ibrox boss Danny Rohl and the set-piece specialist is now a key part of his backroom team.
The 47-year-old has only been at the club for six weeks but has already had a big influence. Rohl name-checked Fry after Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over St Mirren – when Rangers’ two goals came from set-pieces.
One of the scorers, Emmanuel Fernandez – who has hit the net four times this term – credits Fry for helping him become a huge danger to opposition teams in the box. But Erhahon isn’t surprised the Englishman’s work on the training pitch is now beginning to reap rewards.
Lincoln’s record on set-pieces last year was the best in EUROPE as they scored 30 goals overall. That’s what attracted Rohl to Fry, who Erhahon compares to Aston Villa, Portugal – and ex-Scotland coach – MacPhee, who is an expert in the field. In an exclusive interview with Record Sport, he revealed what makes Fry tick, why players buy into his methods – and how he earned them a bumper night out in Manchester.
Rangers head coach Danny Rohl and set piece coach Scott Fry
Former St Mirren midfielder Erhahon, who is now at Bolton Wanderers, said: “Scott is an interesting guy. He’s obsessed with set-pieces. Absolutely obsessed. We all really liked him at Lincoln. We used to call him our very own Austin MacPhee, from Villa. Last year in our secret Santa, someone even bought him a set-piece book that Austin was involved in.
“And he’d regularly come and tell us that he was up late watching YouTube and discovered a set-piece that he wanted to try with us. I loved stuff like that. Because as players, when you felt he was so invested in something, you wanted to invest in it too. Set-pieces aren’t the most fun thing to work on are they?
“No player likes standing out there in the freezing cold practicing corner routines. But although it was serious stuff with Scott, he made it enjoyable. To be a specialist in anything, you need to be obsessed with it to be successful. If you’re not, you won’t get results.
“Scott actually got us a bonus for scoring last season. I can’t remember the exact figure, but let’s say it was £500 a goal. And if we conceded from a set-piece, we lost £500. By the end of the season, because of our record with Scott, we were plus 25 on set-pieces.
“The board had to pay it and we used all of that money for a squad night out in Manchester. Small things like that make a huge difference because it gives the players’ extra incentive to do well from set-pieces. Who doesn’t want to make extra money? Scott fought for that for us.”
Ethan Erhahon in action for Lincoln City(Image: Phil Oldham/REX/Shutterstock)
Fry’s appointment, allied to Rohl’s coaching and management, has coincided with Rangers hauling themselves back into the Premiership title race. In his first game, against Livingston at Ibrox, one of his corner routines worked a treat with Fernandez scoring from a header. But Erhahon insists it’s his work on second phases of set-pieces – which Gers scored twice from on Tuesday night – which sets him apart.
He said: “Scott’s big thing at attacking set-pieces is the second phase. He insisted that if the ball comes out, don’t mess about with it on the edge of the box. He wants the ball delivered to the back post as soon as possible. I don’t want to give away his secrets – but you see that with Rangers now.
“If the ball comes out to Connor Barron, for instance, on the edge, the big guys stay in the box at the back stick and that’s where it goes. I’m actually good friends with Manny Fernandez and I told him when he signed for Rangers he’d be a big part of Scott’s set-piece work.
“He’ll be his target guy because he’s an absolute unit. Scott keeps it simple for the takers – he’ll just say: ‘Hit the front or back’. His theory is if they hit an area, he’ll have runners. For one game, he’ll focus on one spot. That’s what he did at Lincoln.
“He’d say, for example, depending on the opposition, 90 percent of the corners in this game will go to the back post. And he’d work on creating space in that area to make sure it’s on. He looks at the opposition and whether they’re marking man-for-man or zonal. But he doesn’t make it too confusing for the takers. It’s like two separate things. The taker’s job is to get it into an area. Then he’ll work with the other players on making sure bodies arrive there.”
Rangers Head Coach Danny Rohl shakes hands with Rangers’ Set-Piece Coach Scott Fry
Attacking set-pieces are only half of Fry’s job, of course. And Erhahon knows he’ll be raging at how Rangers conceded a goal to St Mirren striker Mikael Mandron on Tuesday night. He praised his innovative methods and the Scot is convinced he can help bring success to Ibrox this season.
Erhahon said: “Every week we went out at Lincoln, we felt we’d score from a set-piece. We had the takers, we had threats in the box – we weren’t really missing that much. And we didn’t concede many either. I remember when we played Stevenage, they had a guy called Carl Piergianni, who was massive.
“But with Scott, we’d put TWO men on him, which is unheard of. Who do you know has ever put two men on one guy? It was unseen before but his view was that Piergianni was the player we had to stop. Ultimately, I think Scott will be a big success at Rangers. They’ll get better at set-pieces as the season goes on with him there.
“I know what he’s like. He takes a lot of pride in it. He’s the first to be disappointed if you lose a goal from a set-piece, even though he’s not on the pitch. The players at Rangers will respond well to him.”