14 Things Newcastle Fans Need To Know About Ian Cathro

12. He Helped Develop A Player Dubbed "The Mini Messi" At Dundee United

Not only did Cathro unearth Dundee United attacking-midfielder John Souttar, he also helped develop a player dubbed "The Mini Messi". Souttar was coached by Cathro at Dundee United and even before that in his own coaching school, while "The Mini Messi" Ryan Gauld was brought through the Tannadice academy. After netting nine times in 50 Tangerines appearances once Gauld broke into the first team, Sporting Lisbon came calling and parted with more than £3 million in order to take the Scottish attacking-midfielder to Portugal. In fact, in an interview with the Guardian, the Scotland Under-21 international raved about how important Cathro had been in his development. While talking about how Cathro improved his own passing technique, Gauld revealed:

"That was something I worked on in training with Ian Cathro. "He was always saying that you need to see not just the pass that you are going to play but when that person receives the ball, think of what they can do with it, so thinking of the second and the third pass. "A lot of nights of the week we would just work on awareness, just knowing what€™s about you. It€™s a key part of my game."

Hopefully Cathro can have a similar impact on the likes of Rolando Aarons, Adam Armstrong and Callum Roberts at Newcastle.