SCOTT Russell is Argyle's Fitness Coach and Prozone Analyist.

Brisbane-born Russell started life at Home Park as coach of the Ladies team before a stint as kit man during Ian Holloway's reign.

The arrival of Paul Sturrock as manager prompted an upsurge in Scott's responsibilities and, after a season as ProZone coach, the affable Aussie has now added the role of fitness coach to his Green CV.

He has since been retained as part of the coaching teams put together by Paul Mariner and Peter Reid, which is testament to the respect Scott has earned at Home Park.

"It was a long process and I've finally got to where I want to be, but, football's quite a closed shop," said Scott.

"It is not easy to get in the circle, especially with the first-team professionals and that's why I went the roundabout way to get there. You need a lot of contacts and networks and that sort of thing to get to where I am now.

"I started with the Ladies team, coached them for a few years, built up contacts at the club, and they could see what I did coaching wise.

"The kit job then came up and that was another step towards the first-team coaching staff. I did a tiny bit of match analysis part-time for the Gaffer, and he obviously liked what he saw, so, when they got the ProZone system, he decided he wanted me to do that full-time.

"Now we've got the fitness department the sports science department, so I've got an even bigger role this season."

Scott's path to the top has not always been an easy one and he admitted the year as kit man was a time to concentrate on the job spec placed upon him.

Holloway's assistant manager Tim Breacker retained responsibility for tactical analysis and fitness, so Scott was forced to bide his time.

Scott said: "Tim is qualified in all that sort of thing and because I just started out as kit man I didn't sort of want to have a hidden agenda if you like, so I just concentrated on the kit and did that to the best of my ability.

"It has not really been too hard for me because I've done coaching and that sort of thing. It is the players that have got to adjust because I've been the person they see maybe once or twice a week as a group doing the Prozone, or if they want to come down and have a look at individual stuff, they might see me three times a week,

"Now, it is five times a week and I'm the voice out on the training pitch encouraging them and telling them what to do, putting the fitness drills on and warm-ups.

"I'll combine ProZone and fitness coaching, so I'll be very busy. ProZone and fitness stuff ties in together because half of the Prozone is fitness, tracking how far they run, high intensity runs and that sort of thing."