Craig Levein has confirmed that he is close to sealing a return to management with St Johnstone.
The former Scotland, Dundee United and Hearts boss is set to be confirmed as the new man in charge at McDiarmid Park after Steven MacLean was axed following a string of poor results domestically.
Levein is now close to being confirmed as Saints manager, with an announcement expected tomorrow and he has revealed he is hoping to bring Brechin manager Andy Kirk with him to Perth as assistant.
Speaking today on BBC Radio Scotland, the 59-year-old said: “It is not done, that is the first thing I can tell you. There have been conversations and we are somewhere in between those things.
“I want to have another go at it, a throw of the dice and see if I can, at the latter stages of my managerial career, make a difference at St Johnstone and see if we can improve and get up the league.
“I have always said if the right thing came up then I would like to have another go but the right thing had not come up and this opportunity is something I looked quite seriously at.
“I looked at the squad and had a look at the results and spoke to a few people and got a good feeling. We will wait and see but you know what it is like in football, until the ink is dry, nothing is done.
“I like Geoff Brown and Stan Harris, the guy that does the stuff with the contracts. Gus is also there and I get on really well with him.
“If things do go to plan then I will be bringing Andy Kirk with me to do all the work. I am really looking forward to it but until the contract is signed I can’t speak too much about it."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here