Colin Nish: Young squad is starting to take shape

It hasn’t been a 2015 to remember for Cowdenbeath, who suffered relegation from the Ladbrokes Championship in May before getting off to a slow start in Ladbrokes League 1 this season.

Jimmy Nicholl made way in the off-season after two years in charge and the club opted for a different approach for the upcoming campaign by handing Colin Nish his first managerial role.

The 34-year-old is one of the youngest managers in the SPFL, and the former Hibernian and Kilmarnock striker revealed to Ladbrokes News that management had been on his mind for some time.

“Around about when I turned about 30 I had a real think about what I’m going to do when I stop playing. It probably came along a little bit quicker than I would have imagined,” Nish said.

“I went to Dumbarton and took on the apprentice side for a couple of years, so I did go away and try to learn as much as I could before (I retired) and then luckily I managed to get this job.”

The Blue Brazil tasted defeat in four of their opening five league games under their new player-manager, but have been beaten just twice in the last seven contests.

“We have a very young squad, and financially we haven’t got as much money as some teams in the league but what we have got is a lot of young boys who will improve and I think that’s what has happened,” Nish explained.

“In the first quarter of games (of the season) we didn’t get as many points as we would like but you could see we were improving and in the first three games of the second quarter we’ve done well.”

Nish is the only registered player with the club aged over 30, and only three other players are over 25 in a team which is having to learn and improve quickly.

Nish explained: “It’s a young squad but it’s also a new squad, when I got the job there were only a couple of players signed so it’s taken a little a little bit of time to build and to find the best way of playing.

“It’s starting to take shape a little bit now but it’s still going to be a tough season for us no doubt but we are improving which is pleasing.”

The former Hartlepool striker may have jumped into the deep end by taking on the challenge at Central Park, but it’s not something he’s regretting.

“I quite enjoy everything about the job, I’ve got a great group of boys who come in and work really hard and that makes it a heck of a lot easier.

“When you’ve got players like that it makes your job a little bit easier and makes it more enjoyable.”

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