Cowdenbeath Manager Colin Cameron has been in football for 22 years now and he has just seen the last 12 months disappear in a flash however, he was still able to look back on it with a lot of pride.
The 39-year-old Blue Brazil Player/Manager was appointed to the Central Park hot seat last May and he remains grateful for the break that the club's former Manager Jimmy Nicholl gave him for a second time in his career.
Cameron explained “I went to Cowdenbeath two years ago from Dundee to be a player as well as Jimmy’s assistant. He gave me my break as a player back at Raith Rovers and he also gave me my break as a coach.
“I am really grateful to him on both counts. I got the opportunity to go into coaching at a time when a lot of people were looking for jobs. When he left for Kilmarnock last summer, I had the chance to become the Manager and it was great to have had the grounding that Jimmy gave me during that first year at the club.”
It was an easy decision to make for Cameron despite Chairman Donald Finlay stating that promotion was the target in their initial meeting as he said: “When I met with the Chairman, he told me that he wanted us to secure First Division football again and that was actually great to hear. I am ambitious and it was good that the club was ambitious too.
“I had to take the opportunity as it is a shot to nothing and I would have regretted not doing it. I thought about whether I should carry on playing and quickly decided that I would as I felt at this stage, it would be easier to do things that way.”
The season began for Cameron and his troops with a 2-1 Ramsdens Cup defeat from neighbours Raith Rovers and then a penalty shoot-out disappointment after a 2-2 draw with Stenhousemuir in The Scottish Communities League Cup with the League campaign kicking off with a 2-2 draw at Station Park against Forfar Athletic.
Cameron said: “We were one up in that game and then two one down but we showed character to come back and level which was very pleasing. We could have actually won it when Marc McKenzie had a chance in the last minute.
“He missed it that day but if it fell to him now, he would score it as his game has improved a lot during the second half of the season.”
Revenge on Brechin City for knocking them out of the end of season Play-Offs last season and relegating the Blue Brazil was achieved in the first home League match by a 3-1 scoreline with Cowdenbeath then travelling to meet an Airdrie United side, who they meet again tomorrow, looking for a first away success.
That success came and it came in style with a 5-1 win with Cameron saying: “We went behind early in that game but then got to grips with things. We equalised and then scored right on half-time to go ahead.
“We got right into our stride in the second half and scored another three times. I was pleased with seven points from the first nine as two of the games had been away from home and we actually topped the League table then.”
That position was lost the following week when Stenhousemuir defeated Cameron’s side 3-1 at Ochilview but an unbeaten run of six games that included five wins saw the number one slot belong again to Cowdenbeath and it has stayed that way ever since.
Cameron observed: “It was important that we handled set-backs well and the players showed that with winning the next three games after the Stenhousemuir defeat. It is really important that you don’t feel sorry for yourself in this game. You just have to move on.
“We defeated East Fife in the first Fife derby and then played really well when we won 4-0 at Dumbarton before seeing off Albion Rovers 2-1 at our place in a game where they threw a lot at us towards the end.”
Cameron had always preached about belief to his players and he could see it rising as they responded to their second defeat, a 1-0 loss at Brechin, by going on another positive run that produced 17 points from eight games.
“I talked about belief as soon as I got the job,” said Cameron before adding, “We had been good enough to stay in the First Division the season before but not enough people shared that belief. I built on that this season and hopefully now, the players know just how good they are.”
That belief led to a subtle change from Cameron as he explained: “We had always talked about promotion being the target, right up until Christmas time and then I started talking about winning the title. We were in a good position and a position that we were more than capable of winning the title from.”
Cowdenbeath kept on leading with Arbroath snapping at their heels and the home match with Brechin on 25th February was to be a pivotal moment in the Championship according to Cameron who said: “We were in a good habit of winning games relatively early and then seeing them out but that day against Brechin, we were really struggling to score. Derek Lyle popped up with a goal in the last minute which won us the game.
“It looked like we were dropping two points and giving Arbroath the chance to pull level but we won it and probably knocked a bit of the stuffing out of them at the same time.”
Cameron’s review looks accurate with the Gayfield men winning only two of their next ten games whereas his side won five to open up the ten point gap that is in place at the moment.
A 2-0 win at Stirling on 14th April set up the chance for the title to be secured when Forfar visited the following weekend with Cameron saying: “We needed character and belief to win the game at Stirling as they put us under a great deal of pressure. Our goalkeeper, Thomas Flynn, saved a penalty when it was 1-0 and then blocked a Darren Smith header. We managed to score late on to secure the win through Marc McKenzie.
“I fancied our chances at home against Forfar,” said Cameron before adding, “Our home form had been good all season. Thirteen wins in the seventeen games we have played there so far and we have lost only ten goals in those games. Three of them actually came in the one game against Arbroath when we had a player sent off quite early.
“That is pretty good going and knowing that we had to win at home to win the League sounded good to me and we did that by beating Forfar 2-0.”
Cameron the player was capped 28 times by Scotland, was a Coca-Cola Cup winner with Raith Rovers in season 1994/95 and a Scottish Cup winner in May, 1998 with Heart of Midlothian when he scored the opening goal from the penalty spot in the first minute. He also tasted success when he was with Wolverhampton Wanderers and won promotion to the Premiership via the Play-Off system and he was asked how the Second Division Championship success compared.
“It is right up there with them all,” said Cameron before adding, “They are all huge achievements in their own way. Raith Rovers was probably the biggest achievement as we were a First Division side at the time. Hearts had not won the Scottish Cup for over 40 years and at Wolves, it was the first time they had reached the Premiership so they were all big events.
“The guys here had been promoted before but had not won a League Championship. To play as well as they have makes this success just as special and it is great for the players as they have shown that they are winners.”
Cameron is under no illusions that getting up is one thing but staying up is something else as he explained: “This season has flown in and part of the reason for that I am sure is that it has been so enjoyable. When things go well in football, everyone wants to come to their work and things go a lot quicker. It will probably be different next season as we may not win 20 games as we have this season so far.
"I will come up against things next season that I didn’t this season but I love a challenge and that is the whole point of being in this business.”
Cameron is looking to defy doctors’ orders and get back to doing some running in preparation for the challenges he will face next season after undergoing knee surgery last Thursday. The 39-year-old is pleased with the progress he has made in just one week and is hoping to be given the all clear to start full training when the Second Division Champions meet for their pre-season training programme.
He said: “I am walking about no problem at all and actually want to do a bit more than I am supposed to. I feel fine and could do with a jog but I have been told it will be four to six weeks before I am fully recovered and that I better not risk it.
“I am determined to be ready for the start of pre-season training. It will be a challenge but I like a challenge.”
A family holiday will be taken before Cameron studies for his A Licence at the National Training Centre at Largs later this month however, before all that, there is the small matter of picking up the Second Division Championship Trophy tomorrow after their match against Airdrie United.
Cameron said: “Saturday will be a great day for the club and it is something that everyone connected with Cowdenbeath is looking forward to. We cannot forget about the game as we want to finish on a high and Airdrie have a lot to play for as well as being the form team in the division.
“They are probably frustrated now because of the start of the season they had as Jimmy Boyle now has his players playing at a really consistent level”
Cameron finished by saying: “They will want to win it to secure a Play-Off place but they will get no favours from us and Jimmy will not be expecting any favours anyway.”
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