Raith Rovers: Neill Collins installed as new manager 30 days after Ian Murray's sacking

Collins, a 41-year-old Troon-born former centre-back, served several clubs north and south of the border in a playing career running from 2001 to 2018, before going into management with Tampa Bay Rowdies (2018-23) and Barnsley (2023-24).

He told Raith TV: “I’m absolutely delighted to be here. I know it’s been a long time for some of the fans waiting on what was going to be next but hopefully it will be worth the wait.

"I think everything happens for a reason.

"I think people will sometimes forget when you’re a football manager, the volatility of it.

"It’s never as straightforward as sometimes we’d like. John (Potter, Raith technical director) and Andrew (Barrowman, Raith chief executive) have really done everything to try and make this happen.

"When you’ve got not just yourself to think about in your career, but I’ve got a family, four kids and it’s a big decision, especially the way things ended in my last job, the next thing is really important for so many reasons.

"I’ve always seen what a great job and opportunity this is.

"A big part of me being here is obviously the team. I know we’ve got a great side, I know there’s a lot of great work gone on behind the scenes by John and Andrew, who really made me feel wanted and welcome.

"And I think that was a big thing. And going to the B Licence last week to help assess the candidates, John really gave it a hard sell.

"And before you know it on Wednesday night I’m getting a tour around Stark’s Park!

"I have been at Stark’s Park before as a fan and as a player. The work that they have done behind the scenes was a bit eye opening in respect of what they are putting into the club.

"That’s one of the reasons we’re here today.”

Collins takes over Raith with the club sitting second bottom of the Scottish Championship on three points from four matches. His first game in charge is an SPFL Trust Trophy third round tie at Ayr United this Sunday, kick-off 1pm.

Although he has never bossed in Scotland before, Collins is well versed on football in this country.

He said: “I follow Scottish football avidly. Even when I was in the States, I listened to Sportsound regularly on the drive to work.

"Scottish football is a bit unique. Last year I watched a few games, the Friday night games were always great and Raith were obviously an exciting team to watch so they were on quite regularly.

"Over the last couple of weeks I’ve certainly paid a little bit more attention and I can see there’s a lot of quality in the squad.

"They finished second last year for a reason, they’ve strengthened. The division’s difficult as always, a lot of teams feel that they’re going to be there, but we’ve got a great squad.

"It’s been unfortunate at the start of the season that there have been two or three key guys missing, but I think you can see from the performance on Saturday against Livingston, even without some key players from last year it was a fantastic team performance and lots to be positive about.”

Collins said he has a lot to live up to after last term’s runner-up finish, but – individually and collectively – he and the players need to get better to push Raith up the table.

"The club is looking long and short term,” he added. “We know that we’ve got talent in the building, we know we need to pick up from where we’ve started this year.

"I think we can get this club back to where it needs to be, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work from not just myself, the team, but everyone at the club.

"We are still at the early stages of building. Last year was great, almost accelerated people’s expectations.

"There’s a lot of steps to come and I want to be part of that.

"Working with good people, I can see how passionate people are about the club.”

On his predecessor Murray, fired after a 1-0 league loss at Airdrieonians on the opening Championship weekend, Collins added: “When a manager loses his job, especially with the timing it happened, it’s tough, especially when Ian did a fantastic job.

"But I saw straight away this would be a good opportunity, an opportunity to try and achieve something that’s not been achieved here in a long time. Then John reached out to ask to speak.”