Brian Macleod to demand high standards of Nairn County players after interim manager role was extended until end of the Highland League season
Brian Macleod believes his appointment as Nairn County’s interim manager until the end of the Highland League season will bring a period of much-needed stability to the club.
Macleod is the third man to sit in the hot seat at Station Park in the last 12 months, following Ross Tokely who in turn took over from Steven Mackay last summer.
Coupled with those changes has been a large turnover in the playing squad, meaning the set-up in Nairn looks very different now than it did only a year ago.
Having initially been asked to take the side for a couple of games while the Wee County looked for the right candidate to take the reins permanently, Macleod has now been tasked with seeing Nairn through to the end of the campaign.
He has already set his standards in training, and has warned senior players that if they do not perform, he will still look for other options despite having limited room to manoeuvre in the transfer market.
“There has been a lot of change over the last nine months or so, managerial changes and coming and goings with players,” Macleod reasoned.
“This gives us a period of stability that the club needs at this moment.
“First and foremost we need to start getting some wins. Our form hasn’t been good enough this season, that’s clear. We’ve been really inconsistent, so we want to start putting some wins on the board.
“Secondly, I want us to be a team that the supporters enjoy coming to watch. Too often this season we haven’t been that, for one reason or another, so I want us to be a team that supporters will enjoy watching while trying to win games.
“The players have responded really well so far, and they are a good group, so they know what is required.
“I spoke to them about the standards I’ll be setting. They’ve worked with me long enough to know that I won’t accept anything less.
“I’ve been clear with them that if they’re not going to do the basics and work hard on the pitch, I’ll dip into the under-18s.
“There’s no real scope to bring players in, so this is the group we have between now and the end of the season. We need to be clear that we need to be working hard as a group and all pulling in the same direction.
“There has been such a big turnover of players in the last year, I think we probably need just a wee period of stability. There might be scope to bring in a loan or two if things change, but at the moment I’m focusing on making the group we’ve got better to get us heading in the right direction.”
The Macleod era at Nairn County will kick off against Lossiemouth this week, although Alan Pollock could join Kenny McInnes as a long-term injury concern after damaging his hamstring in training last week.
With neither the interim manager or club chairman Mark Kelman ruling out making the temporary arrangement permanent, the next few months could be seen as something of an audition for Macleod to get the top job.
However, he sees it as a trial period for both parties to make sure it is something they would want to continue with.
“I’m obviously busy with work like we all are, and management is tough to juggle,” he explained.
“Until you’ve done it, you don’t truly know how hard it is. It’s a challenge, so over the last few years I’ve got the balance really good as an assistant manager where you can switch off a bit easier.
“When the change happened last week, I did say I would do anything I could to help, and this period allows the club to decide what route they want to go down.
“It also give me the chance to see if this is something I want to do going forward.
“I’m not ruling anything out. At the moment, my focus really has been on what’s best for the players and the club.
“It’s not about me, I want to get us wins and moving in the right direction between now and the end of the season. We’ll see how things go, and assess it again in the summer.”
