Lossiemouth Football Club caretaker manager role suits former Elgin City and Brechin City boss Gavin Price as Coasters post thumping 4-0 Highland League victory at Keith
Former Elgin City manager Gavin Price is loving life as caretaker manager at Lossiemouth - and assisting a Coasters revival.
The Grant Park side recently parted company with last boss Eddie Wolecki Black after just seven games at the helm, and have now turned their attention to Price.
The ex-St Johnstone striker was assistant, then manager at Borough Briggs for almost a decade, and more recently bossed Brechin City.
He was contacted by current Lossie first team coach Stevie Dunn, a goalkeeper coach at Elgin during Price’s time there, about returning to football at the Coasters for a spell.
The Moray club were hovering precariously close to the bottom of the Highland League table, but Price’s arrival has coincided with a North Cup quarter-final win at Forres Mechanics and a storming 4-0 league success at Keith on Saturday.
Price said he is delighted to be back in the game and is enjoying his time at Lossiemouth so far.
But the Aberfeldy-based boss is unlikely to be able to commit to the long-term future of Lossie.
“I was speaking to big Stevie (Dunn) who wanted me to come and help out for a while,” he said. “I’m just coming in to help for whatever basis I can at the moment.
“I don’t really know how long it will be for but logistically it might be quite difficult going forward. I’m missing the dressing room so it’s been a breath of fresh air for me in the last couple of games.
“I was taking the team for the last two games and been involved with the boys. I watch from the stand and I will continue to do that for the next wee while until they decide which road they want to go down.
“It’s early stages for me in terms of thinking about what to do further down the line. I’m happy to help out, I’ve got a lot of connections up there and I have my caravan in Lossiemouth so it’s quite handy from that point of view. But as a long-term option that might prove to be more difficult.”
Price was impressed by Lossie’s display at Kynoch Park, with Ross Morrison’s double and a further strike from Ross Archibald putting the visitors 3-0 up at the break.
Fraser Forbes’ late strike sealed a comfortable Coasters’ victory.
“The players did excellently, and it’s them who win the games of football. Just getting some more self-belief in them is the key.
“They are a capable bunch and I have been pleasantly surprised by the standard of a lot of them. If they continue to go the way they’re going, there’s a good chance of getting more positive results.”
Price explained his current role with Lossie and how it all came about.
“I’m caretaker manager, or temporary manager, whatever you want to call it. Stevie got in touch with me after Eddie left, I was down in Edinburgh with the wife getting dragged round the shops and I thought ‘I can’t do this anymore’.
“But I'm happy to help out and it’s good to get involved in the dressing room again. The players have responded really well to me coming in and I’ve enjoyed working with them so it’s been really refreshing for me, being back in the dressing room.
“There’s definitely something there to work with. I knew quite a few of them, as so many of them have been involved with Elgin over the years coming through the youth system.
“It was back in 2014 when I started with Elgin so I have worked with the guys who came through the system there and some of them came and trained with the first team squad.
“The fact is that the coaching staff are people I know as well, with Ally Whyte, Stevie Porter , Stevie Dunn and Ian Campbell who were at Elgin, They know what I like on the training field and what I like to do so that has made it a bit more attractive.
“But the travelling is going to be an issue on a longer term basis. I’m happy doing what I’m doing the now. It gets me out of the house and gets my Saturdays back to what I should be doing.
“It’s only going to be on matchdays at the moment. I will try to get to training now and again when they’ve got a home game.”
