Nairn County’s next manager in good hands with breakthrough stars at Station Park, says interim boss Brian Macleod
Brian MacLeod believes the future is bright for Nairn County and their next manager as he gives young talent a chance.
The Wee County caretaker, who has ruled out running for the job, was delighted to give under-18s starlets Charlie Mckenzie and Chevy Thomson their debuts recently.
Having acquitted themselves well in first team training, MacLeod felt the young pair deserved their opportunities and did well.
Nairn are believed to be ready to appoint a new boss by as early as next week, with the board keen for the new man to assess out of contract players before the season’s close.
Ahead of tomorrow’s tussle with a strong Huntly side, injuries continue to pose issues.
Defender Millar Gamble will now miss the rest of the season with a tendon issue having played on while injured against his former club Brora three weeks ago.
“The next day the bruising was pretty significant,” MacLeod said. “He was seeing the specialist this week for a scan, but his season is definitely over.”
Gamble joins Alan Pollock, Kenny Macinnes and Jamie Carnihan on the sidelines, but Nairn’s competitiveness in four recent close-fought defeats against some of the league’s toughest teams has pleased the caretaker.
“I’ve seen a lot of good signs and I definitely think there is a good platform there for someone taking over longer-term,” MacLeod stressed.
“It is not something I’m interested in at this moment in time, but there’s definitely plenty there to work with.
“We’re down to the bare bones in terms of defenders, but the positive, with a few suspensions lately, is we’ve been able to dip into the under 18s.
“We’ve given two of them debuts and that’s something the club wants to look at going forward.
“As well as being competitive in the league and aiming to challenge for the top six, it is about developing young players.
“Charlie Mackenzie, a centre midfielder who is 16 and still at Nairn Academy, showed up really well in training.
“It is about getting the balance – when do you throw these boys in?
“We got Charlie and Chevy Thomson, a wide player, their debuts and, especially when a team is going through a difficult season, sometimes young players can really lift the place.”
MacLeod hailed the dedication of defender and captain Fraser Dingwall in playing through the pain barrier lately.
“We’re managing Fraser at the moment, he’s been struggling with his hamstring and missed one or two games,” MacLeod explained.
“He was back in against Fraserburgh, but hasn’t trained all week. We’re hoping he will be fit for Saturday.
“To be fair to Fraser he is digging deep for us when it would be quite easy to just say the season is coming to an end.”