GUS MacPherson has ambitions of making a return to management in full-time football – but only when the time is right.

The Queen’s Park manager has been offered opportunities to leave Hampden, but none of these felt right to a man who took over at St Mirren some 15 years ago.

MacPherson has done a remarkable job at the amateur club where he has felt at home for over a year now.

However, if something came up that suited him then he would jump at the chance of getting back to where he worked for so long.

MacPherson said: “Would I like to get back to full-time? Very much so. But I’d always be respectful to Queen’s Park.

“I’ve had opportunities and spoken to people but the timing’s not been right, the circumstances haven’t been right, but I’m still very, very ambitious.

“I’m 47, in terms of management that’s pretty young, but you’re learning all the time. I think I’ve probably learned as much in management in the last couple of years because of the different set of circumstances that a club like Queen’s Park brings to you and hopefully I’m a better manager for it.

“And if given that opportunity to go full-time or a higher level of football you’re ready to grasp that.

“You’ve got to be wanted. In any management job someone has got to want you.

“That’s why you go back into it because we want to do the job, we certainly believe we’ve got something to offer the game. I feel I can get plenty out of players to improve and develop them.

“But someone has got to want you and that’s the short end of it. You can make yourself available just by doing a good job wherever you are.”

MacPherson has never worked for a club with deep pockets, St Mirren and Queen of the South were his previous posts, and now he finds himself being outbid by junior clubs.

This is a far from easy job.

MacPherson said: “The Junior clubs will pay good money, so it is a hard sell. We’ve got to start looking at players for next season now. We’re always hopeful, not just with Hampden, but the decent facilities we’ve got at Lesser Hampden, they can see what we’ve done and what can be achieved if we get the right players.”

MacPherson was at the national stadium yesterday to watch his side drawn at home against Peterhead in the Petrofac Training Cup semi-final.

The other semi-final match will be a home tie for the winners of next Tuesday’s game between Rangers and Livingston who will play St Mirren.

The manager said: “Getting to the semi-final is progress considering the turnaround in players, which always happens at Queen’s Park.

“We’ve had a decent start to the league, sitting in third, in a very competitive division.

“So there has been progress, not just in terms of results but the manner of the performances. We’re always trying to play as attacking as we can, especially at home and we’ve got results.”