Raith Rovers: New boss Neill Collins reveals his ambitious target for Kirkcaldy club

Neill Collins is hoping to get Raith Rovers into the top flight either this season or next (Pic courtesy of Raith Rovers)Neill Collins is hoping to get Raith Rovers into the top flight either this season or next (Pic courtesy of Raith Rovers)
Neill Collins is hoping to get Raith Rovers into the top flight either this season or next (Pic courtesy of Raith Rovers)
New Raith Rovers boss Neill Collins has revealed that he is targeting promotion either this season or next for the Kirkcaldy outfit.

Troon-born former Tampa Bay Rowdies and Barnsley gaffer Collins, 41, installed as Raith manager on Tuesday one month after the sacking of Ian Murray, inherits a side currently sitting second bottom of the Scottish Championship on three points from four games – 10 points behind leaders Ayr United with a game in hand – but he is aiming high.

“There’s still a lot of water to go under the bridge,” he told the Fife Free Press.

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“If you ask anyone, the long-term aim is to get into the top-flight and we can still do that this season, two different ways.

“You can win the league or you can finish in the play-offs and we’re certainly far from out of either of those.

“By the same token, last year was a fantastic season, finishing second and just missing out.

“Everyone wants you to just move on that one step.

“It doesn’t always work like that, but we will be doing everything we can to give ourselves the best opportunity to go one better.

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“And if it’s not this season, then we want to make sure it’s next season.

“What the board have told me is they’re trying to build a real solid platform, so that the club is able to achieve that.

“We all know in football that it can be because of a bounce of a ball here or there that you don’t do it. That’s just the way it is.

“But you’ve got to try to take as much of that out of it to try to make ourselves as successful as possible.

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“In the very short term, it's about getting to know the team, getting to win a few games and getting some players back fit.

"I think if we get some key guys back fit and they play like we did on Saturday with those guys involved we'll start winning games, start moving up the table and then it's going to be a very tight league.

"Long before this job became available, I knew that this year was going to be dog eat dog and certainly six or seven teams were going to have the same objective.

"We just need to try and say: 'Right, let's win the next game'.”

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Collins, a former centre-back who served several teams in Scotland, England and the USA in a 17-year senior playing career between 2001 and 2018, has had an eventful life since first leaving Scotland when he joined Sunderland from Dumbarton back in 2004.

He said: “It’s been interesting because I left Scotland 20 years ago to sign for Sunderland and really since then I would come back for the odd game of football or to play for Scotland U/21s, but I’ve not been in Scotland an awful lot.

“Obviously I then moved to the States.

“But since I’ve been off, I’ve been back - back for the Open, back to see my parents, back to watch games.

“I’m Scottish and I love Scotland. My kids are excited and it’s nice to be back.

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“It’s funny, you start seeing familiar faces and people that you played against when you were younger, and they’re a bit older as well, so it’s good.”

Collins begins his Raith tenure at Ayr United in a third round SPFL Trust Trophy match this Sunday with kick-off at 1pm.

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