Contract Renewal: Fridge Signs New Three-Year Deal
Nairn County manager Les Fridge has signed a new contract with the club that will keep him at Station Park until the summer of 2011.
The former Chelsea, St. Mirren and Inverness CT goalkeeper signed the three-year extension following his side's impressive end to the season where they collected 13 points out of a possible 15 from their last five games, which included impressive wins over Inverurie Locos and Huntly.
After penning the new deal, Fridge spoke to Nairn County FC Online. He said: "The board have seen
He added: "It means we can now concentrate on trying to kick on and really do something. We lost players last summer and that has been well documented. We have a young team - which was highlighted with Gregg Main and Wayne Mackintosh winning two of the club's player of the year awards - and sometimes you have to take a backwards step before you can go forward. But having said that, we finished this season with only three less points than last season and that was a terrific year for us. We have shown by the way we started and finished the season that we can compete with the very best in this league."
"It may be another two or three years before we start seeing the
Club chairman Peter Mackintosh added: "This new deal for Les is important for our own continuity at the club and also for the Nairnshire Football Trust which is run in partnership with Nairn County through funding from the Davidson Trust and Awards For All. Les makes a fantastic contribution to the Trust as head coach and we are delighted he has agreed to extend his stay."
Fridge took over at Station Park in May 2004 and quickly set about reshaping the remains of previous manager Ronnie Sharp's squad. After a transitional first 12 months in charge, Fridge's new-look team had amassed 36 league points and was ready to push on after a summer of adding further reinforcements to the squad. The 2005-06 season brought the high point of the manager's reign so far when the club won its first trophy since 1977 by scooping the North of Scotland Cup with a 3-1 win over Forres Mechanics. Later on that season, Fridge was handed a new contract as the side continued to progress up the league as they finished the year with 40 points. The following campaign brought three league points more than the previous season but it was back to the drawing board in some respects for Fridge last summer as he lost several important players. The manager opted for a new approach as he brought in several young players who were unproven at Highland League level as well as putting more emphasis on the club's youth development programme. And it looked to be a shrewd move as the side made a ferocious start to the season winning their first three league games and picking up victories in the North of Scotland and Challenge Cups. But an unfortunate six-week layoff over the Christmas period and into the New Year arrested the side's momentum and knocked them completely off track. It took several games for the team to get going again but they finished the season on a high to again reach the 40-point mark in the league. The manager will now look to reassess his squad and try to add some new faces in time for the start of pre-season training which begins in the middle of June.