manager wanted

[strathyjags]

Donly decides to delegate Strathspey management role

Strathspey Thistle manager / chairman Donly McLeod has been a breath of fresh air since the club stepped up to the Highland League for the start of the 2009/10 season but the effervescent 61-year-old is set to call time on his lengthy spell in the Seafield Park dugout.

McLeod's passionate, no-holds-barred views have turned his post-match interviews into must read / listen material but having delegated a number of roles to his assistant Brian Ritchie earlier this season, he is aiming to completely phase himself out of his management role in time for the start of the new campaign.

McLeod has been at the helm of the club since the 1994/95 season having originally taken over from Tom MacKellar as player / manager. He added chairman to the list of roles he has filled with the club and guided the side through a glittering, trophy-laden spell in the junior ranks before fulfilling a long-time ambition of being admitted to the Highland League in 2009.

Now though, the increased pressures of the combined role has led McLeod to wind down his management role, as he takes a bigger responsibility in trying to achieve another off-the-park feat and attain full SFA membership. Speaking to http://www.highlandleague.net/ this morning, McLeod quipped:

"I might become the first Highland League manager to be sacked by himself! Seriously though, there is no bitterness behind the decision and I have asked Jerry O'Driscoll to take a lot more to do with the running of the team over the last eight or nine games of the season. Brian (Ritchie, assistant) and Colin (Tansley, coach) will still be there to take the training because Jerry can't make it through to Grantown during the week.

"I am going to be phasing myself out over the next few weeks but I am still going to be heavily involved in trying to get boys in and will be working alongside whoever takes over in the long term. Brian and Colin will be given a bigger influence in running the team and that has always been the intention."

McLeod could have reached his decision to move upstairs earlier had a former Highland League championship winning manager accepted an offer from Strathspey to take over at the helm earlier this month. McLeod revealed:

"We approached Robbie Williamson three weeks ago to find out if he would be interested in coming in to help us out but he turned us down because he has commercial commitments at Ross County on Saturdays as he helps out on the hospitality side.

"We are looking for somebody though because we haven't been able to bring players in and we need to find a name that can entice boys to come. We are not jumping the gun though and will wait and see what happens - it might be a case of waiting until the close-season and trying to get somebody in then.

"Brian has been trying behind the scenes to get boys in as well and both of us haven't had much success and it is starting to hold the club back. We haven't been too successful in bringing boys in from the Inverness area despite our best efforts but if we can get Jerry O'Driscoll to stay with us for next year, hopefully he can help us to bring more boys through from the Aberdeen area."

What 32-year-old striker and former Cove Rangers co-manager O'Driscoll decides to do at the end of his contract at Strathspey in the summer is likely to have a big influence on the direction the club goes with regards to both their new management structure and their close-season player recruitment. If McLeod has his way, the new boss will also have the honour of leading Thistle into the Scottish Cup. McLeod added:

"My ambition was always to get the club into the Highland League and I have done that. As chairman, I want to take the club a step further and we need a big name as the manager to help us to do that.

"In the summer, we will be continuing our efforts to get into the SFA and that is going to take up more and more of my time because we will be working on the ground. We also want to try to improve the team as well though and we feel that having a name to entice boys to come in is the way to do that. We have had money to spend but we haven't been able to attract as many big name players as we would have liked. We are not jumping the gun though and I am happy to wait and see how things develop.

"I was always going to have a go at management in the Highland League and I have used all of my experience but as I have always said, we have to try to get a strong spine to the team. I am coming up to 62 now though, so we need to get somebody younger in. Brian and Colin are great at training with the local boys and maybe we will have to look at getting three or four more boys through from the Aberdeen area if we can convince Jerry to stay with us because it would be far better to have a car full rather than just one. That is certainly the way ahead for us but we might just be a stepping stone for Jerry before he moves on to another club but hopefully that won't be the case."

McLeod guided Strathspey to their first ever piece of silverware in June 1998 when they defeated Nairn St Ninian 2-1 in the final of the Clive Williamson Trophy before they scooped the Robbie Nicol Memorial Trophy the following season. League success was achieved during the 2001/2002 term as the Jags topped the First Division (West) before they made history by becoming the first non-Aberdeenshire club to win the Grill League Cup in the competition's 98-year history with a penalty shootout success over Banks O'Dee in 2002/03.

More history was made as the club entered the Scot-Ads Highland League for the 2009/10 season with a first ever victory at this level coming over Fort William in November 2009. They recorded their first ever away and cup success yesterday with a Fosters Highland League Cup second round win over the Lochaber club to setup a quarter final tie at Cove Rangers.

[+DoofersDad]

I take it that this detail has been posted here because the wise words of the contributors to this forum make it obvious that there are numerous members of CTO who would do a much better job than the present incumbant? I'd like to help but you can't afford me.