Nairn County chairman Mark Kelman says Highland League club will take time to find new manager as Ross Tokely steps down
NAIRN County chairman Mark Kelman says the club will take their time to find the right man to replace Ross Tokely as manager following him stepping down on Monday.
Tokely ended his nine-month reign at Station Park officially on Monday, two days after Nairn were hammered 5-1 by Forres Mechanics at Station Park.
It has been a disappointing campaign for Nairn County, who find themselves in 12th place and out of all cup competitions this season.
Now Kelman says the club will take their time to find the right man to replace Tokely and guide Nairn County to become a stronger force in the Highland League.
“It is definitely something that we are going to take our time on,” said Kelman.
“We want to get it right by getting someone who matches our ambition and also where we are as a club.
“We don’t have a timeline on an appointment, where we are in the season, we are out of the cups and our league position won’t change too much. We can afford to take our time to get it right this time.”
Assistant manager Brian Macleod, who was manager of Clachnacuddin in the 2018/19 season, has been promoted to manager for Saturday’s clash at Formartine.
Kelman says Macleod is a name which the club have considered taking over the position permanently.
He said: “Brian will remain in the post while we are inviting applications for the position of manager.
“We are also in talks with Brian and there are other targets that we wouldn’t mind speaking to.
“We definitely aren’t in any rush to appoint a new manager.
“Brian has taken training this week and doing a great job for us. We are in talks with him and is somebody who could be a good option for us.”
Tokely and the board came to a mutual agreement for him to step down as manager which was officially announced on Monday.
Kelman says it was a tough decision for Tokely to leave the club, but said everyone felt it was ultimately the right call.
He said: “It is always tough and Ross was a great servant to the club in his time with us.
“Unfortunately it didn’t work out for him as manager. It was definitely a hard decision and we were sad that he had to go. But we all felt it was the right decision.”