Eddie Wolecki Black has pledged to bring progress and attacking football to Lossiemouth Football Club as new manager, says chairman Alan McIntosh
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Lossiemouth have appointed a manager determined to bring attacking football and improved results to the Grant Park side.
That’s the view of Coasters chairman Alan McIntosh after installing experienced coach Eddie Wolecki Black as the new man in charge of the Highland League side.
McIntosh said he was surprised that the managerial vacancy attracted Dundee-based Wolecki Black, who has committed to relocating to the Moray area in his effort to succeed in the Coasters position.
A former Highland League striker at Deveronvale and Huntly, he became the first full-time coach of a Scottish women’s football team when he took charge of Glasgow City and led them to eight consecutive SWFL titles.
In men’s football he managed several sides including Lochee United, who he steered to the Scottish Junior Cup final, and bossed Montrose and Airdrie in the Scottish League.
But during his time at Airdrie, he suffered a stroke after which he feared he may not be able to speak or walk.
His recovery allowed him to return to women’s football as coach at Celtic and Motherwell, and most recently he was a director of football at Gartcairn Juniors.
Following Frank McGettrick’s decision to step down as Lossie boss at the end of last season, the club received several applicants and Wolecki Black was one to get in touch.
“He approached us and I was shocked to get the phone call really, going by his track record,” said long-serving club chairman McIntosh.
“We’re delighted with the credentials he’s got, and he said straight away that he was willing to relocate.
“His experience in ladies football and getting Glasgow to eight championships in a row and European football speaks for itself. He’s got a European pro licence and has been talking about things which our coaches can learn a lot from him.
“Since having his stroke, it has affected his mobility but he wants everyone to look beyond his disability. He walks with a stick but his brain is fully switched on when it comes to football.
“He has been determined to come though everything and he knows the best thing for his rehabilitation was to get back into football.”
Lossiemouth will now look to recruit coaches to provide the new manager with some support. Scott Campbell and Tony Ross have stepped down from their first team coaching roles but assistant Ian Campbell is staying with the club.
McIntosh revealed the new boss has an eagerness to continue the progress being made at Grant Park.
“Eddie has told us to get the coaches in to run things for him, he will tell them what to do and they will be able to feed into his experience.
“He has told me that he is going to improve every stat from league position to goals for and against. He is a confident character.
“Our league position doesn’t lie and it is difficult getting out of that bottom five but he wants to get us up out of there so we aren’t involved in the relegation picture.
“He has had a look at what we have at the club and where we take players from, and he isn’t willing to spend say a couple of thousand pounds to get players from out with the area.
“He wants to get the youth teams playing the way that he wants them to play so they are ready to step into the first team the way we are playing.
“He’s got it all planned out, and the way he was talking to us it is going to be a more attacking team.
“He is coming up on Monday to speak to all of the coaches and the first team players to explain what is going to happen.”
By then, Lossie hope to have two new signings on board for next season.
One is ex-Forres mechanics and Strathspey Thistle Owen Paterson, who was signed on a pre-contract agreement earlier this year. His brother Ross is also part of Lossie’s squad.
The Coasters are also understood to be on the trail of an unnamed striker.
McIntosh was disappointed to lose pervious manager McGettrick, who he said had been doing a good job at the club,
“We had hoped to keep Frank on but because he has an operation coming up, he doesn’t know how long it is going to take for him to recover.
“He said if he couldn’t be there for pre-season and give it the full 100 percent, and that wasn’t him because he always needs to be there hands-on. He kept things very low-key when he left, that’s the way he wanted it and we fully appreciate that.”
