Gary Naysmith will today take his first step into management with East Fife.
Meanwhile fellow former Huddersfield Town full-back Darren Edmondson is now boss of Barrow after leaving their Cumbrian and Skrill Conference North rivals Workington.
Ex-Scotland international Naysmith signed for East Fife during the close-season and had been in caretaker charge of the Scottish Division I (third tier) club since the departure of Willie Aitchison last month.
They have climbed from second-bottom to seventh in that time and aim for a third successive win against Brechin at New Bayview.
Naysmith, 35, spent two seasons at Town from 2010-12, and has also played for home-city club Hearts, Everton, Sheffield United and Aberdeen.
He has set his sights on bringing the footballing good times back to the town of Methil, insisting: “I see no reason why East Fife cannot be a top 16 or 18 club in Scotland.
“It will maybe not happen straight away but why not?
“They’ve not got any debt, they’ve got a great stadium, there’s potential to expand it and they are in the process of raising money to get a new club shop, a restaurant and another stand.
“I know some of the plans the chairman has got for the future and I’ve spoken to him about that. It’s a very ambitious club, and a very progressive club.”
Edmondson, who played for Town between 1997-2000, had been manager of Workington for six years.
But the Coniston-born 42-year-old, who started his career at Carlisle and also played for York, resigned after a change in chairman and majority shareholder.
He has taken over at Barrow from Dave Bayliss, who left Holker Street last month,
Workington and Barrow, both former Football League clubs, occupy the bottom two positions in their table ahead of today’s games at Leamington and at home to Solihull Moors respectively.
The pair play each other at Workington’s Borough Park on Boxing Day before a New Year’s Day return at Holker Street.
