East Fife manager Gary Naysmith has paid tribute to his players and staff after collecting the Ladbrokes League One Manager of the Month award for September – and insists it shows how much the club have progressed during his tenure.
Naysmith took over in 2014 and despite suffering an early relegation, he went on to win the League Two title last season and the Bayview club are currently in the League One play-off places.
And speaking to Ladbrokes News, former Scotland international Naysmith was keen to focus the spotlight on the hard work of his squad.
He said: “I won my first manager of the month award in September 2014 and I’ve been fortunate to have won five in the two years since. I think it reflects how well the players and club have done in that period of time.
“If you’ve won five out of 20 or so, it must show the club is doing something right. Obviously I get the award and the headlines, but if the players weren’t doing the business I wouldn’t get it. I can only say a big thank you to my players and staff.
“We’ve played eight games and we’re still finding our feet, but our good results have all been about good work.”
Naysmith also has another theory about his team’s impressive run of results recently, and believes that the new sports performance centre in Edinburgh may have played a part.
He added: “I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence or what, but our good results against Airdrie, Stranraer and Livingston have coincided with us training indoors at the new facility at Herriot Watt.
“The players have enjoyed the surface and the intensity of the training has definitely stepped up – maybe that’s carried on into the games.”
But whilst East Fife are riding high at the moment, Naysmith is keen to keep things in perspective, and insists any targets haven’t changed since the summer.
He added: “Our simple aim was, and still is, to get ourselves safe from relegation as quickly as possible. If you do that, it means that you can then go into every other game and try and win it because everything else is a bonus for you.
“It’s very difficult to win one league and come straight up and win promotion again. You’ve got to bear in mind as well that Livingston and Airdrie are full-time and Alloa have come down from the Championship.
“We’re in the bottom half of the league in terms of budget, so when you’re punching above your weight in that regard, realistically, you have to be happy.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a great start, but it’s a solid start and it’s been okay.”
Meanwhile, East Fife striker Jamie Insall has pointed to extra time spent on the training ground as one of the main reasons for winning the Ladbrokes League One Player of the Month award for September.
The 24-year-old is currently on-loan from Hibs for the season, and has four goals from five appearances for the promotion-chasers after scoring eight goals in 21 appearances for the club during his first loan spell last season.
And Insall insists that the extra full-time training he gets with his parent club is a big help when he isn’t banging in the goals for the part-timers.
He said: “It’s obviously nice to get an award like this. It’s not why you do it, but it’s always a bonus and hopefully shows that I’m putting in some hard work.
“I still train with Hibs a couple of times a week, as well as two nights with East Fife, and I think it’s made my all-round game a lot sharper.
“Neil Lennon is obviously aware I’m out on loan, and hopefully he sees me doing well, but it’s more his assistant Gary Parker who is giving me tips and constantly offering me advice, which has helped a lot.
“I think I’ve actually come on a lot from last season and I definitely think back-to-back promotions is possible for us at East Fife – why not?”
Whilst Insall has his sights firmly set on another successful season with East Fife, he admits that it would be difficult not to keep an eye on Hibs and their own push for promotion.
He added: “I’d like to think I could offer something to Hibs, but you have to be realistic and look at the strikers they already have. Jason Cummings will probably score 30-plus goals in the league, and Grant Holt has played over 100 games in the Premier League.
“I think it makes more sense for me to be here, and I’m 100% committed and focused on East Fife. We’ll see what happens with Hibs at the end of the season.”
Insall’s progression has also been heralded by his manager.
Naysmith said: “Jamie came to us last season, and I would’ve described him as an out-and-out finisher, but whatever he’s done over the summer, he’s transformed. His fitness has got better and he’s got stronger. He feels more comfortable playing up-front on his own and his touch and awareness has improved ten-fold.
“He gave us a focal point to our attack and that’s something we’ve been missing. We were short of something up-front and Jamie’s came in and filled the void and he deserves all of the praise he’s been getting.”
