New Keith manager Allan Hale wants the Maroons’ caretaker Jim Stables to be part of his backroom staff at Kynoch Park.
Hale, 27, has left junior Superleague side Maud to become Gordon Winton’s successor at Keith. The club is in 12th place in the Highland League having won six of their opening 16 games in the campaign.
Winton’s assistant Stables had been in temporary charge but had hinted he would leave the club once a replacement was made.
Former Fraserburgh forward Hale said: I will be having a chat with Jim, he has been caretaker manager since Gordon left and will take the team tomorrow at Lossiemouth but I want to see what his plans are.
“He is a local coach and I would like to have him involved in some capacity.
“Gavin Wemyss will be coming with me from Maud as my assistant, and Ewan Robb, who has just left Aberdeen University junior club as manager, and who I worked with when I was a community coach with the Dons, is joining us as first team coach.
“Cameron Campbell, my sports scientist at Maud, will also be doing a bit of that for me at Keith.”
Hale did not pursue the job at Kynoch Park but said the approach from the Maroons proved too good to turn down.
He said: “Keith chief executive Andy Troup contacted me a couple of weeks ago and asked whether I was interested in the role or not.
“He asked about my ambitions and if I had any plans to manage in the Highland League.
“I then arranged to meet him for a chat, to see what his ambitions were for the club and I was really impressed by what he had to say.
“He seems to have a very clear vision and he sold it to me.
“I am a young, ambitious manager, I want to achieve good things in the game as well.
“Gavin and I went up for an interview the other night, we got round the table and just seemed to click. Our ideas matched each others and it just seems a good fit.”
Maroons chief executive Troup is delighted to have got his man.
He said: “Allan has been in the junior ranks now for several few years and he wants to step up.
“He is a young, enthusiastic manager who is going to take us to the next stage of where we want to be.
“He has Highland League experience and knows it well from his days playing for Fraserburgh. He is so keen to win trophies and that is where we want to be, back up near the top of the table.”