Naysmith full of praise for his sidekick

EAST FIFE caretaker manager Gary Naysmith reckons the sage advice of sidekick Paul Hegarty has been invaluable to him as he aims to take the reins at Bayview on a permanent basis.

Naysmith enlisted the help of the former Dundee United boss on a voluntary basis after taking temporary charge after Willie Aitchison’s resignation.

The makeshift management team’s efforts clearly provoked a reaction from the players as they recorded just their fourth victory of the season at the weekend.

That lifted the Fifers out of the drop zone and has put Naysmith in pole position to get the manager’s job permanently.

An announcement on who exactly Aitchison’s replacement will be is expected in the next few days.

The former Scotland defender, who very much hopes to get the gig, believes Hegarty’s influence on his career has shaped the kind of player — and now manager — he has become.

“He’s not changed one bit,” Naysmith said.

“I’ve known Heggie for years, he was my reserve team manager at Hearts, and everything he’s telling the players now he was telling me back then.”

He added: “People see me and Heggie but I think I need to give a mention to Dougie Anderson as well.

“He sort of came in unnoticed under the previous gaffer and Dougie’s a Uefa A-licence coach.

“He scouted for Sunderland’s first team a few years ago, he’s very thorough in his work — he’s like me — and he likes everything done properly — game analysis, scouting, everything like that.

“He’s been different class and he takes that off my hands so you’ve got to give a big bit of praise to Dougie for that as well.”

After Saturday’s success, Naysmith was full of praise for the club’s loan signings who made an impact at the weekend, with Kilmarnock midfielder Gary Fisher taking his goal — which proved to be the winner — excellently.

Dundee defender James Thomson also made a debut for the Fifers after joining on loan and slotted into the back line well.