Elgin City manager Gavin Price admits departing assistant Keith Gibson will be a loss to the Moray club – and thanked him for giving them time to find a replacement.
It was announced on Friday that Gibson would be on the move from his position, with the travelling from his Dundee home the reason for the decision.
The search is well underway for his replacement, but Price appreciates the work the former Broughty Athletic manager gave Elgin since 2018 as he prepares to stand down at the end of the month.
The boss said: “Keith has been brilliant over three-and-half years, which has been a big ask, with all that travelling.
“I’ve been delighted with what he’s given us and he will be greatly missed by everyone at the club, myself particularly.
“It is one of these things and we have got to move on. It gives us a chance to build something else at the club, with which we are quite far down the road with.
“The great thing is Keith has been really professional about it and given us a bit of time to get the next person in. He will be there until we do that and hopefully it will be a good transition.”
Price was speaking after a sweeping Kane Hester-inspired 3-0 victory over Albion Rovers earned Elgin their first League Two win of the season.
Dundee United academy defender Nathan Cooney, who has joined on loan until January, was one of many players looking impressive as the side looked strong at the back, creative in midfield and, especially through Hester, dangerous in attack.
It pushes City up to fourth spot ahead of Saturday’s home league clash against joint table-toppers Forfar Athletic.
Price was delighted by the standard of the performance and said that’s the benchmark now.
He added: “The goalkeeper and the back four kept a clean sheet. Young Nathan came in from Dundee United for his first game and it was a fantastic debut.
“We asked the players do to something different and we worked hard in training to help us get a wee bit more fluidity to our play and have more options on the ball.
“We’re delighted, but it’s one game. What we ask now is that we continue that next week here against Forfar.
“Compared to what we’ve had so far this season, this performance was light years ahead of the way we’ve played.
“It was by far our best performance of the season so far, both defensively and in an attacking sense.”
Price, meanwhile, was happy to see goalkeeper Thomas McHale follow on from a fine display in the 2-1 win against Hibs under-21s in the SPFL Trust Trophy last Tuesday by keeping the team’s first clean sheet of the campaign.
He reckons it will be a real battle between McHale and Daniel Hoban for starts this season, which can only benefit the club as a whole.
He said: “One of the things that will be a real boost to is this season is our goalkeeping situation. Thomas came into the cup game last Tuesday and he played very well, while Daniel has had a wee problem with his foot, so he was not 100%.
“We have two good keepers and they will fight it out all season, but I have confidence in both.”