Peter Grant will be unveiled as the new Dunfermline Athletic head coach on Friday morning after agreeing to succeed Stevie Crawford.
The 55-year-old was formally interviewed by East End Park chiefs for a second time this week and impressed sufficiently to emerge as the standout candidate.
Subsequent contract talks went without a hitch and Grant, who boasts coaching experience with the likes of Celtic, West Ham and West Bromwich Albion, will boss the Pars next term.
The ex-Norwich City manager left Alloa Athletic at the end of the 2020/21 campaign after suffering relegation from the Championship, nevertheless the Pars hierarchy were impressed by the Wasps’ playing style and Grant’s philosophy on the game.
Grant was also strongly linked with a return to Parkhead to be part of Eddie Howe’s backroom staff but the lure of chasing promotion with Dunfermline proved too strong to turn down.
Grant’s appointment comes despite the likes of Stewart Petrie, Neil McCann and Kevin Rutkiewicz being linked to the role.
He is expected to work within a reshaped management structure, with Pars chairman Ross McArthur having recently undertaken a strategic review of how the club can progress next term.
More input will also be forthcoming from Dunfermline’s German investors, DAFC Fussball GmbH, who already own a 30% stake in the club and will increase that to a majority holding of 75.1% over the next 12 months.
Grant will be charged with guiding the development on the pitch and improving on last season’s fourth place finish in the Championship, ideally mounting a concerted title challenge.
The managerial position was vacant after Crawford stepped down earlier this month, candidly confessing to a sense of burnout following a gruelling 28 months at the helm.
Stevie Crawford interview: Why I had to quit Dunfermline Athletic
