Brechin City appoint 31 year old ex-Aberdeen player as their new manager

Brechin City appoint a 31-year-old ex-Aberdeen player as their new manager following the departure of Mark Wilson along with Simon Donnelly.

The Scottish League Two club pick Interim Manager Michael Paton as their new Player-Manager on a permanent deal until June 2023, with the vastly experienced Gerry McCabe as Assistant Manager.

The Angus based club have got rid of Wilson along with his assistant Donnelly following the horrendous start to the campaign, which got a fair bit of mentions by Jeff Stelling on Sky Sports this season.

‘The City’ have lost each game in both the Betfred Cup and League Two, and they now face a battle to get out of the relegation zone. They also conceded 24 goals in their opening five fixtures of the 2020/21 season before Wilson’s departure.

NEW MANAGEMENT TEAM APPOINTED

Brechin City is delighted to announce the appointment of Interim Manager Michael Paton as our new Player-Manager on a permanent deal until June 2023, with the vastly experienced Gerry McCabe as Assistant Manager.

➡️ https://t.co/c7MmmVt9jp pic.twitter.com/8lySAykNQV

— Brechin City FC (@BrechinCityFC) November 6, 2020

CLUB STATEMENT:

Brechin City is delighted to announce the appointment of interim manager Michael Paton, as our new player-manager on a permanent deal until June 2023.

Michael, who started his playing career with Aberdeen and had spells at Stockport County, Queen of the South, Dunfermline Athletic and Dumbarton before starting his second spell with City at the start of this season, will continue to combine playing with managing.

Gerry McCabe, who has experience at all levels of the game in both Scotland and England as a Manager, Assistant Manager and Coach with clubs such as Celtic, Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, and Plymouth Argyle amongst others, has been confirmed as Assistant Manager on the same length of contract.

Speaking of his appointment, Michael said “Brechin City is a club which has always been close to my heart, as it gave me my first experience of senior football and helped launch my professional career. I am absolutely delighted to now have the opportunity to begin my managerial career with such a fantastic club and I am determined to repay my debt to the club. I will give everything I can to help us move forward and deliver a team we can all be proud of”.

A Club spokesman said “A number of candidates were considered for the role, but Michael’s desire, ambition, football knowledge and passion to succeed at Brechin City, have left the Management Committee in no doubt that he, ably assisted by the vastly experienced Gerry McCabe, is the right person to improve the Clubs position and performances on the pitch.

“We would like to thank all Brechin City supporters for standing together and backing the club during these difficult times. We know, as always, that you will give Michael, his Management Team and the players your full support as they strive to produce the winning team you all deserve”.

Reflecting on the win over Albion Rovers last weekend, Player/Manager Michael Paton said, “I was over the moon with the performance. The boys gave themselves a chance of getting a result because of their work-rate and their willingness to fight for each other. I’m delighted how they took on board what I said to them on Wednesday at training and before the match on Saturday. It was a well deserved three points in my opinion.

“The message to the players was that we had to stop teams having so many chances against us – we were far too easy to score against. I felt the boys answered that well – we were compact and everyone knew their jobs. We limited Albion to very few chances and credit to Lewis (McMinn) and the back four, the whole team in fact.

Looking ahead to the clash against Stirling Albion tomorrow, Michael said, “Every game is going to be tough in this league. They have some top players in their squad including the likes of Andy Ryan, Jack Leitch and Declan Byrne. We know the quality that they’ve got but if we keep working hard then our quality will shine through in the game as well.

PATON’S CAREER:

2007–2012 – Aberdeen – 51 apps (4 goals)
2008 → Brechin City (loan) – 16 apps (4 goals)
2011 → Stockport County (loan) – 15 apps (4 goals)
2013–2015 – Queen of the South – 60 apps (7 goals)
2015–2018 – Dunfermline Athletic – 60 apps (4 goals)
2018–2019 – Dumbarton – 24 apps (1 goal)
2019–2020 – Queen of the South – 22 apps (1 goal)
2020– Brechin City – 2 apps (0 goals)

Fans reacted as Brechin City appoint the 31-year-old ex-Aberdeen player as their new manager…

Good luck to @mickpaton89 in his first managerial role, Good experienced man alongside in McCabe?⚽

— Paul Fraser (@fraserpaul6) November 6, 2020

All the best, great day out when we won promotion with the super ayr, good luck

— black and white jacobite (@Wingsofasparro1) November 6, 2020

We are MASSIVVEEE

— Matthew Robertson (@Matty0611) November 6, 2020

Delighted for @mickpaton89 ?? Good luck!

— Vicky Smith (@ParsFanVicky) November 6, 2020

100 percent record ?

— Scottish Fitbaw (@SFitbaws) November 6, 2020

>Wins one game
Here’s hoping it works out.

— Ross Batchelor (@rossbatchelor9) November 6, 2020

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