New Lossiemouth manager Steve Porter believes he has what it takes to establish himself in the Breedon Highland League and lead the Coasters up the table.
Porter has been appointed as boss at Grant Park, having been part of the coaching staff since the start of the season.
The 38-year-old, who spent 20 years coaching in Elgin City’s youth academy prior to joining Lossiemouth in the summer, was initially brought in to assist manager Eddie Wolecki Black.
Following Wolecki Black’s departure in August, Porter has been part of the Coasters’ interim management team alongside Stevie Dunn, Ian Campbell and Gavin Price, who left last week.
Now Lossie have named Porter as manager, with Dunn as his assistant, while Campbell is set to step back from coaching duties to focus on his role on the committee at Grant Park.
Coasters can climb standings – Porter
Porter said: “I feel I can do the job. I feel I can get the best out of the players and hopefully we can get the results we want and get up the table.
“I enjoyed working at Elgin, but when I was offered the chance to come to Lossie this season I jumped at it. If I got the opportunity, I was always keen to step up into adult football.
“I’m convinced we can start getting results.
“The players have had a bit of an up and down season.
“But there’s a bit of clarity with things now and I think the performances in the last three or four games have been a bit more positive.
“We’re trying to get better and more competitive. We need to get away from the bottom of the table in the short-term, but I believe there is potential in the team for us to get a bit further up the league.
“I want us to be difficult to play against every week. We want to be in a position where we can compete with anyone on our day.
“Whoever we play home or away, I want Lossie to be competitive. We need to be well-drilled, difficult to beat and display a level of consistency.”
Boss looks to strengthen Lossie squad
Porter believes he has a good squad at his disposal, but is keen to add to Lossie’s player pool and also to his coaching staff.
He added: “We’ve got experience and youth in our squad and we’ve got good players in key positions.
“We’ll look to add to the squad as we go along and we’ve got a few targets in mind that we’d like to bring in.
“I’d also like to bring in another coach – I’ve put out a few feelers and we’ll see how that develops.”
Chairman pleased with appointment
Lossiemouth chairman Alan McIntosh has been impressed with Porter and Dunn since they arrived at the club and feels the pair have justified their appointments.
He said: “Steve and Stevie have done a lot of work since they came in.
“With Steve, what impressed me a lot was before the Linlithgow Rose game (in the Scottish Cup). We had a team meeting and he of took charge of it, he spoke very well and the players all listened to him.
“He’s stepped up from being a youth coach to coaching in adult football this season and he’s done very well.
“Steve’s young and ambitious, so hopefully he can take us forward.
“Gavin Price helped to mentor him and gave him the opportunity to lead the team for a couple of games and he did well, so hopefully he can carry that on.”
The appointments mean Campbell, a familiar face in the Grant Park dugout in recent years, is set to step back from coaching.
McIntosh added: “Ian was voted on to the committee at the AGM in July and he was keen to come away from the coaching side of things.
“The way it has worked out he’s still been assisting as a coach so far this season.
“But Ian feels he can’t keep doing both. He wants to give us a hand in terms of running the club and he’s got a lot to offer in terms of bringing sponsorship and revenue into the club.”
Brora Rangers’ Max Ewan up for the cup
Max Ewan is determined to help Brora Rangers retain the R Davidson (Banchory) Highland League Cup after missing out on last season’s final.
The Cattachs face Keith at Kynoch Park in the first round of the League Cup on Saturday.
Since joining Brora in 2021, winger Ewan has helped them win the Highland League Cup in 2022 and earlier this year – but didn’t start in either final, with a broken wrist ruling him out of March’s triumph.
The 23-year-old said: “In my first season at Brora, I was on the bench for the final and got on for the last 20 or 25 minutes.
“Then last season I was playing well and then broke my wrist and missed the final.
“Hopefully we can go far in the competition again. You want to play in finals and big games, so hopefully we can do well.”
Rematch with Maroons
Brora and Keith have met already this season, with the Maroons winning 3-2 at Dudgeon Park in the Breedon Highland League in August.
Ewan is keen for the outcome to be different when the sides clash again this weekend.
Brora have been in excellent form recently. The Sutherland side are unbeaten in seven games, are sitting second in the Highland League, have won the North of Scotland Cup and reached round three of the Scottish Cup.
Ewan added: “We need to be right at it and we want to win as many trophies as we can and put ourselves in the best position possible.
“We’ve had a tough run of fixtures the last six weeks, and other than a draw at Brechin, we’ve won them all.
“We need to keep it going and try to keep challenging on all fronts.
“We started the season well and the defeat to Keith was a blip for us.
“But any team is dangerous on their day and the last game against Keith shows that.
“We won’t take them lightly and we’ll be right up for it.”
Conversation