BEFORE his phone rang last week, Craig Fraser had no intentions of going back into management.
But the 47-year-old, who is well known in the South of Scotland footballing world, believes the opportunity to manage Mid Annandale was too good to turn down.
He will now take the helm at the Lockerbie side for the forthcoming campaign following the departure of Garry O’Hanlon.
Speaking to the Annandale Herald yesterday, Fraser said: “It was quite out of the blue to be fair. I didn’t expect the call to come. We had a meeting on Friday to get things over the line.
“I have been out of management for the past two seasons, I took a wee break.
“I wasn’t really planning on getting back involved, but Mids gave me a call to tell me the news that their manager had left and asked if I would be interested in taking the job.
“I’m buzzing (to get started). I had always said if the right opportunity came up then I would really think about going for it.”
Fraser met the players and took his first training session in Lockerbie on Tuesday night.
He brings a wealth of experience to New King Edward Park after previously managing Dumfries YMCA, St Cuthbert Wanderers, Newton Stewart, Lochar Thistle and Nithsdale Wanderers.
Fraser added: “I’m quite experienced in the South League, hopefully I can use that.
“Mids are a well run club. They are a tight knit bunch of players, the majority had already committed for the new season.
“They are a huge club at the South level and have always had that huge potential.
“They have won two or three trophies in the last few seasons and in recent years came close to winning the league.
“They are a huge club, with a great playing staff and a great committee.”
A pre-season schedule is lined up but the details have not yet been released.
And Fraser is keen to use the next couple of weeks to assemble the squad fully.
He said: “We have got a friendly in a couple of weeks. We will get some training sessions in before that.
“It’s just a point of me going in and putting my own stamp on the team.
“There’s a lot of people tied up with clubs already. That’s been the only hard bit, the timing of it.
“But I’m delighted to get involved.”
