Fife move is a step up for me

The former Rovers gaffer has been chosen to replace Barry Smith at Bayview and was unveiled on Saturday afternoon.

Young guided Albion Rovers to the League Two title in 2014/15 and ensured the club’s safety in the division higher since then before leaving towards the end of last season.

And that clearly appealed to the Bayview board who have just completed their first season back in League One after promotion last year.

After Smith departed the Fifers for Raith Rovers last week, the Methil board moved quickly to snap Young up.

He said: “This is a good and well run club.

“After sitting down with the chairman and the board the other day I knew they matched the same ambitions as myself.

“They want to progress and improve on what was achieved last season.

“We’re getting an astro surface put down which is a big plus for me as well as it’ll give us the chance the get the ball down and pass it.

“I want to improve as a coach and a manager and see this as a step up now.”

Despite being one of the favourites for the drop at the start of last season, East Fife instead found themselves battling at the top end of the division.

A charge to make the end of season play-offs was only snuffed out on the final game of the campaign - and Young says he can build on that when the new term kicks off.

He added: “They did really well last year and just missed out on the play-offs - in all honesty they should have made the play-offs but didn’t due to injuries.

“In the second last game of the season there were six or seven teams who could have got into the play-offs.

“They’ve retained a good core of the squad from last season and have a lot of guys I liked from playing against them.

“It’s going to be a harder league than it was last year with Raith and Ayr coming down and Forfar and Arbroath coming up.

“But I’m happy with the squad I have so far and will look to bring in another six or seven players to add to it and improve on last season.”

Work started straight away for the former Aberdeen and Dunfermline midfielder.

The first team squad returns for pre-season training in a couple of weeks before the Betfred Cup kicks off in the middle of July.

On Friday the Methil club were grouped with Elgin City, Hearts, Dunfermline and Peterhead in their section.

“It’s a hard draw for us but exciting as well,” said the new boss.

“You have Hearts and Dunfermline who are big clubs and then the possibility of travelling up north to play Peterhead and Elgin.”

The new League One season will follow soon afterwards and with it a Fife derby with Raith Rovers.

Young added: “You have Airdrie in the league as well, Alloa who just missed out in the play-offs, Stranraer, and also the teams who are coming up.

“It’s going to be good and I’m looking forward to it.

“I know this league from the last few years.

“I’ll be testing myself and the club as well and looking to progress like we have the last couple of years.”