A strange choice for No.1 – but a good start

A week ago, all Airdrie fans had to focus on was the Monklands derby.

Then news trickled through that head coach Kevin McBride had been sacked.

No sooner had we digested that little nugget, it was revealed that the replacement for ‘Barra’would be former Dundee United defender – and Gordon Dalziel’s fellow Clyde 1 pundit – Mark Wilson.

Dalziel himself had also seen his very recent appointment as operations examiner upgraded to that of Director of Football. Jobs for the boys? We are assured this is not the case and in the spirit of‘innocent until proven guilty’, this is the line we should be satisfied to accept.

The decision to replace a head coach with miniscule experience by one with even less is nevertheless a strange one.

As Rocky the Rooster will testify, Wilson’s knowledge of the Scottish game is, let’s say, more geared to the top end.

As player or pundit, he has never really experienced life this low down.

It is a steep learning curve, so chairman Tom Wotherspoon’s decision to go with the 32-yearold is certainly a courageous one.

Still, Saturday’s win at Cliftonhill gives him the ideal start to life in charge and, even if we did ride our luck late-on, a few of the more worrying aspects of his predecessor’s tactical philosophy were suddenly conspicuous by their absence.

And that is certainly a step in the right direction.