Dean Donaldson felt the time was right to get back into management with Turriff United.
Donaldson was announced as the new boss of Turriff late on Tuesday night, succeeding Kris Hunter, who left earlier this month.
The former Keith and Inverurie Locos stalwart had been out of work since leaving the Maroons in October, citing work and family commitments.
However, when the opportunity came up to work with the youthful squad at The Haughs, it was one he could not turn down.
Donaldson said: “It was late on Tuesday night it was all finalised. When I left Keith it was the right time to step away for family commitments.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with the family during Covid and I just feel it’s the right time to get back. I was offered a few jobs in coaching and as joint-managers and I turned them down.
“When I saw this one come up I thought it was the one to go for, as they had such a young team and I work with a lot of youth players already. It was definitely the right job.
“When I spoke to the committee about what they wanted to do going forward, it really was the one I wanted to get.”
Hunter left Turriff at the start of January, on the back of a heavy 13-1 defeat against Fraserburgh.
When he was brought in as manager, he was tasked with lowering the wage bill and the age of the squad.
That has led to some struggles in recent seasons at The Haughs, as Turriff have sought to give younger players a chance, however, it is an avenue Donaldson is keen to explore.
He added: “It’s about getting the right balance and the right blend and getting a couple of experienced boys in to help them.
“They’ve got some talented youngsters but it’s up to them – their attitude has to be right if they’re going to get better. If it’s not, there’s nothing I can do about that.
“It’s very similar to when I went to Keith, when they were sitting second or third bottom.
“Morale was low and things weren’t really going their way.
“I believe I’ll be able to get the best out of the youth, if they want to get better that is.
“If they don’t, you just move them on. You work with the ones that really want to improve.”
Donaldson took his first managerial steps at Keith, where he won the title in 2007, and has been working towards his Uefa B Licence in recent months.
He added: “I feel like I’ll be learning until I stop coaching and managing. There’s so much to take in and so much I need to learn as a manager.
“I feel in three years at Keith I did learn a lot. I was straight in at the deep end and it was either sink or swim.”
