Graham Tatters says Ross Draper’s hunger to succeed in management convinced him he was the right man for the Elgin City job.
Draper has been named as Gavin Price’s permanent successor on a three-year deal.
Along with Charlie Charlesworth and Stevie Dunn, Englishman Draper had been in interim charge of City’s last five games, steering them to League Two safety.
The appointment marks a managerial breakthrough for 34-year-old defender Draper, who was a Scottish Cup winner with Caley Thistle in 2015 and also played for Ross County.
Chairman Tatters has been impressed by the drive Draper has shown to fulfil his managerial ambition, and feels the risk of making a first-time appointment is worthwhile.
He said: “People might think we have taken a risk, bringing in a young manager.
“He’s hungry and wants to become a top-level manager, so we want to give him the opportunity.
“In his interview he had some really good, positive ideas. He’s very enthusiastic.
“In the last few games towards the end of the season, we know the squad were very happy with the team we had there, with Stevie Dunn and Charlie Charlesworth along with Ross.
“We thought we would give it a try, and get someone in there to provide a change of voice.
“As well as Gavin did, maybe eight or nine years is too long.”
Defender will continue playing
Draper has intimated he will carry on playing in the coming season, with Dunn and Charlesworth remaining part of his backroom staff.
Tatters will allow Draper to add a further face to his coaching team, however he insists the club will bide their time to ensure he finds the correct person for the role.
He added: “He wanted to find somebody that was suitable. He had somebody in mind, that person had already committed to something else but Ross was trying to persuade him to come out of that and it didn’t work.
“Rather than go around, trying to take someone for the sake of taking them, only to find in two or three months he’s not happy with them, Ross wanted to start off now.
“His stature is there. Everybody respects him when he speaks, and you can see his leadership on the pitch.
“He’s very forceful when he needs to be.
“The only problem would be he’s getting towards the end of his career, he’s no spring chicken. This has given him the opportunity to continue playing and develop and be ready for when he wants to retire from football.
“He has been coaching at Ross County, he has got his UEFA B licence and I would imagine he will start on his A licence now and see where he gets to.”
City’s plans for next season already under way
Draper’s appointment will allow Elgin to press on with planning for next term, as they bid to improve on a ninth-placed finish in League Two last term.
Although City still have 15 players under contract, they have lost talisman Kane Hester who joined League One side Montrose for a fee believed to be around £25,000.
Draper is in talks with out-of-contract midfielder Russell Dingwall over a new deal, with Tatters hoping he can progress with building his squad for the new campaign over the coming weeks.
Tatters added: “We needed to get going. He had been doing the job for the last few weeks of the season, he was doing most of the organisation along with Charlie and Stevie.
“I don’t think players would have wanted to commit if he was saying he was the manager, but he actually wasn’t yet.
“They needed to see the commitment from the club, before they could commit to the club.
“Players would have wanted to see a manager they respect and they are going to get on with.”
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