Former Caley Thistle and Ross County manager John Hughes has this morning been confirmed as the new manager of Championship strugglers Dunfermline Athletic.
The Pars, who have yet to win a game this season, are the visitors to the Caledonian Stadium tomorrow for a second v 10th league clash.
However, Hughes will watch from the stand as caretakers Steven Whittaker and Greg Shields take the side for the second successive week before the new boss takes fully charge on Monday.
#DAFC are delighted to announce the appointment of John Hughes as our new First Team Manager.
➡️ https://t.co/cwL5rvBrYC pic.twitter.com/sqHI2WlQys
— Dunfermline Athletic (@officialdafc) November 12, 2021
Hughes, who won the Scottish Cup with ICT in 2015, also kept County in the Premiership last season before chairman Roy MacGregor opted to recruit Malky Mackay as his replacement in May.
Hughes, who had a short stint in charge of Raith Rovers has been doing media work with BBC Scotland, but has never hid his desire to return to front-line management.
Unanimous decision to recruit Yogi
A club statement confirmed the East End Park club had got their man to take over from Peter Grant.
It said: “John last night signed a contract with our club until the summer of 2023, and will work alongside all of our existing backroom staff.
“John recently left his post at Ross County in the summer after successfully keeping the Staggies in the Premiership. He is a highly experienced manager who is highly regarded for developing young players, at the majority of his previous clubs.
“As is normal, a small group of directors, nominated by the board, followed a robust process to select candidates both from those that formally applied, as well as approaching others to ascertain whether they would like to be considered for the position.
“In the end, we identified a small number of candidates who had the right credentials, at this moment in time, to be worthy of interview. Two candidates performed especially well at interview.
“However, it was the unanimous decision of the board that John Hughes, by virtue of his previous experience and leadership qualities was the man we should appoint to help us stabilise our club’s position in the SPFL Championship, and take us further forward.”
Pars on hunt for first win of season
Whittaker was in caretaker charge along with Shields last week as Dunfermline slid to a 3-1 home league loss against Morton.
They head to Inverness tomorrow without an away league win on board for more than a year.