John Robertson gets East Fife job for rest of season

JOHN Robertson has been appointed manager of East Fife until the end of the season.

The former Hearts, Ross County, Inverness and Derry City manager takes over from Stevie Crawford, who resigned at Bayview on Monday after a poor start to the season had left the club near the bottom of the Second Division.

Robertson was interviewed yesterday by East Fife chairman Sid Collumbine, and was offered the job. He contacted the club in the evening to accept the post until May, which keeps options open for both parties. It is understood that no other candidates were interviewed, as the Fifers pushed for a swift appointment.

Robertson, 46, has been out of football management since 2007, when he was sacked by Derry City to make way for Stephen Kenny. After a successful playing career as a striker with Hearts, during which he won 16 caps for Scotland, Robertson's first position in management was at Inverness, where he still lives, and he earned the club a historic first promotion to the SPL.

He was appointed Hearts manager in November 2004 but lasted only seven months back at Tynecastle before he was dismissed in May 2005. Within a month he took over at Ross County, but the move did not work out and he left by mutual consent only four months later.

Robertson could look to his old striker partner, Scott Crabbe, to be his assistant at Bayview. Crabbe was part of Crawford's management team, and could be back in position just a matter of days after being released.

Meanwhile, Dumbarton last night refused to comment on reports that manager Jim Chapman's three-year period in charge could be at an end.