Arniston axe McNaughton after shock 9-0 defeat

His second spell at the East Region Premier Division Club has been brought to an end following last weekend's hammering at home to Glenrothes.

McNaughton's assistants, Max Christie and Stevie Ellison, will now take charge for tomorrow's trip to high-flying Broxburn Athletic.

"I don't think you can say it has come out of the blue when you've just watched your side lose 9-0 but I am still slightly disappointed," said McNaughton, who saw three of his players sent off against the Fifers.

"I believe it came down to a show of hands among the committee and, unfortunately, not enough people wanted me to stay in charge."

With only three wins from eight games, Arniston are sitting fifth in the table - eight points behind their opponents at New Albyn Park tomorrow (2.00pm kick-off).

But McNaughton, whose stint in charge was broken by a spell at Cowdenbeath, is confident he could have picked his players up from last weekend's mauling to launch a title challenge.

"It's definitely a case of leaving with unfinished business as I believe this is probably the best team I've been in charge of at the club," he added.

"There's not a player there that I didn't bring to Arniston and I believe some of them have asked for a meeting with the committee as they are upset about what has happened. I believe Max and Stevie will be taking charge at the weekend but what happens after that is up to the committee.

"As for me, in addition to trying to lose some weight I'll be getting myself ready for the next job. I feel I have too much to offer and hopefully something will come up before too long."

Former Penicuik boss Stuart McKean is being linked with the Arniston job on fan websites, as is Pat Glynn, who left Tranent last season. Derek Strickland could be in the frame, too, after his departure from Whitburn in the summer.

By contrast, there seems little danger of Broxburn having to look for a new management team in the forseeable future as a result of the excellent job being done by Steve Pittman and his assistants, Stevie McIlhone and Ian McLaren.

Thanks to a storming finish, Broxburn lifted the South Division title last season and are now sitting at the top of the Premier Division.

They're also still in the Emirates Scottish Junior Cup - a trip to the North-East to face Culter awaits in a fortnight's time - and these are exciting times for the West Lothian club.

"When I sat down with the committee at the start of the season, we agreed that our expectations should be to stay in this league," recalled Pittman, the former East Fife and Partick Thistle defender who won 11 caps for the United States.

"Like any manager, though, I set my sights higher than that and, in fairness to the committee, they have backed every decision I have made."

Former Bo'ness duo Jamie Nixon and Steve Kiczynski were among the players added to last season's title-winning squad in the summer and they've recently been joined by David Morrison, another former team-mate at Newtown Park, as well as Steven Malley and Andy Heeps.

Malley's return to the club has seen him link up again with brother Gary, who is one of the many players to earn praise from Pittman for his performances this season.

"Gary has to take a lot of credit for how well we've been doing," commented the Broxburn boss. "He used to take a bit of stick from the fans as they felt he wasn't good enough.

"However, he's done a great job in helping us become a lot more solid at the back and I definitely think he's good enough to play Senior football."

Ironically, one of the few disappointments so far this season for Broxburn was a 3-1 defeat at Arniston in a match that saw three of Pittman's players sent off. As mentioned, the same thing happened to Arniston last weekend as they suffered one of the worst results in the club's history.

However, Pittman was already set to warn his players about a possible backlash and he'll surely be reinforcing that message now in the wake of McNaughton's sacking. "There's no danger of them losing 9-0 again," he said. "They'll felt hard done by after what has happened and will be looking to bounce back. They'll be a tough test for us," he said.

Broxburn's star is rising at a time when they are enjoying the fantastic new facilities at New Albyn Park, having been forced to play their away games in Livingston last season as that work was being undertaken.

"We've got a great set up now, it's a beautiful wee place," said Pittman, who cut his management teeth at Pumpherston before moving to the club. "Anytime we're there training there are kids everywhere, which is great to see.

"Now it would be the icing on the cake if we could get into the Super League."We've got a long, hard battle ahead to try and achieve that.

"But it won't be for the want of trying and hopefully we can do that and reward the committee for all their fantastic work."

Tomorrow's fixtures: Broxburn Ath v Arniston Rangers; St Andrews Utd v Kinnoull.