Elgin City assistant manager Stefan Hale reveals how people said taking on Borough Briggs job would be ‘career killer’ and says Black and Whites have no right to be league leaders on lesser budget than League 2 rivals
People warned Elgin City’s management team not to take on the job a year ago - now look where they are.
The Black and Whites were staring a relegation battle in the face when Allan Hale and Stefan Laird were appointed in the Borough Briggs hotseat last December.
Twelve months down the line, the pair have steered Elgin to top spot in League 2 and dreaming of a first-ever promotion season for the club.
Assistant boss Laird revealed how some viewed the City job like a poisoned chalice last year, after the club went through a succession of managers and struggled in the lower reaches of the SPFL.
And he compared Elgin’s budget with some of their League 2 rivals, saying they have no right to be title-chasers and have had to endure a terrible injury list to reach their lofty perch.
Ahead of Saturday’s visit to fellow title contenders Edinburgh City, the Black and Whites’ number two said no-one was tipping either club for a promotion push at the start of the season.
“Us and Edinburgh City have absolutely no right to be in the positions that we are,” he said. There's teams in this league with bigger budgets, bigger structures than us and we're up there fighting with them.
“And the reality is that we were told it was going to be a career killer to come into this club a year ago.”
City bounced back from their first back-to-back defeats of the season by beating Clyde 4-2 in midweek and return to top spot.
“People have been quick to jump on us in the last two games when we've lost in the 97th minute (at East Fife) and then we were atrocious on Saturday here (against Stirling), which hasn't happened often.
“The reality is now that if they win on Saturday, they'll be top of the league at Christmas. And if you'd have asked anybody in this town that the team will be top of the league at Christmas, a year from now, they would all laugh at you.
“So that's a credit to every single one of those boys in there.”
Watch the interview above.
