Interim manager Grant Noble is eager to try to rejuvenate Deveronvale – but isn’t looking beyond the end of the season.
Following the resignation of boss Craig Stewart at the weekend Noble, who had three spells with the Banffers as a player, has been asked to take charge for the last six games of the campaign.
The 36-year-old was a player-coach at Princess Royal Park last term, but moved to Junior outfit Deveronside as a player last summer.
With Side in contention to win promotion from the NRJFA Championship it was a tough decision for Noble to return to the Breedon Highland League in a managerial capacity.
And he says he’s had no thoughts about doing the job on a permanent basis.
Noble said: “It was a difficult decision because I’ve enjoyed it at Deveronside. But I’ve got an affinity with Deveronvale and it was hard to say no to trying to help the club out.
“At some point I thought I’d dip my toe into coaching, but I couldn’t have anticipated it would be just now.
“I’ll try to help the club as best I can until the end of the season and we’ll see where we are after that.
“I haven’t been in a position like this before so it will give me a chance to experience it for a few weeks.
“In my head I’m just looking at helping out until the end of the season and we’ll see what happens after that.
“The club will decide what they want to do and what route they want to go down.”
Tough end to campaign
In their final six games this season Deveronvale face Lossiemouth, Buckie Thistle twice, Brora Rangers, Inverurie Locos and Formartine United.
Noble is focusing on getting results following the Banffers’ defeat to Strathspey Thistle last weekend and former boss Stewart’s criticism of the running of the club in the wake of his resignation.
Noble, who also played for Turriff United and Fraserburgh in the Highland League, added: “I’m well aware of the tough run of fixtures we’ve got.
“There’s been a lot of chat about what’s happened, but for me it’s just about getting the boys together.
“They’ve got a good spirit, I know that from playing with them. We need to try to enjoy our football in the remaining games and we need to work hard.
“I know there’s quality in the team and they’ve had some really good results this season.
“We’ll knuckle down, work hard and see what we can do in the last six games. It would be good if we could pick some points up.”
