Colin Cameron is well on the way to bouncing back from the disappointment of losing his job at Cowdenbeath last November and winning January’s SPFL League 2 Manager of the Month Award was a great way to show that he is back.
Cameron enjoyed a fine opening spell as the player/manager of Berwick Rangers where he has secured three wins and a draw in his first four games and talk of a promotion push from over the border is emerging.
That talk remains strong despite last Saturday’s 3-2 defeat from Elgin and Cameron welcomes it as he views promotion as the perfect thank you to the Shielfield Board.
Cameron said: “I am enjoying life a lot better than I was enjoying it a month ago. When I left Cowdenbeath people were asking if I was looking for a break. I had only been a manager for two and a half years so I was wanting back in as soon as possible.”
“A few jobs came and went before I got the opportunity at Berwick. When it came up I went for it without hesitation. Berwick are a better club than where they are just now - Berwick should be at least a League One club and it is up to me to get them there.”
It might be a different job but one thing remains the same as Cameron explained: “You are under pressure from the first day in a manager’s job. If you do not hit the ground running then people behind the scenes will look to change things. That is the nature of the beast. I have always put pressure on myself whether it was as a player or a manager.
“I expect the best from myself and the people that are working for me.”
That pressure is heightened in Scotland’s second tier this season as Cameron explained: “The pressure is different in the Championship this season because of the financial implications of not being in that league next season. There is the likelihood of Rangers and Hearts being there and it is obvious that the clubs are fighting to stay in the Division and in fact it might even be better than being promoted to the Premiership.”
Cameron thought it was better to walk away than have relationships ruined by getting pushed with the talk of Rangers and Hearts next season being the catalyst for him to leave Fife.
The move happened less than 18 months after he led the Blue Brazil to the Second Division title and less than 6 months after successfully keeping them up and he said: “On a personal level I put pressure on myself to try and keep a club in that Division and that was hard especially as a part-time club. Things were just not going right on the pitch.”
“I felt at the time that the squad was more than good enough to stay in the Division but things were not clicking and the relationship I had with the chairman, Donald Findlay, was such that I did not want that deteriorating.
After a third defeat in a row Cameron left Central Park and he explained why: “If results had continued as they had in my last 4 or 5 games before I left it would probably have come to a point where he had to push me out the door and sack me.”
“I did not want to happen and I felt that behind the scenes there were people involved at the club that were starting to put a bit of pressure on the Chairman. You have got to look at the bigger picture and it is not always about me. I felt that if I was to leave at that time they had plenty of time to appoint anyone else.”
Cameron is however proud of what was achieved at Central Park as he explained: “If you take everything into perspective we overachieved at Cowdenbeath last season. We had the lowest budget and the fan base is simply not there to generate a lot more. The club has done wonderfully well to be in the black and not the red.”
“The more you achieve the more people want and that is just one of those things. Because of the financial implications for next season people panicked at an early stage.”
In some ways with the rise of Dumbarton and the fall of Dunfermline what Cameron achieved last season was overlooked and he was asked if he felt aggrieved by that and he said: “What Ian Murray has done at Dumbarton has been different class. He has worked hard for it and he is a new ideas man and his players have responded well to him. “
“I can only be judged on what I achieved. The Dunfermline situation helped us out because we would have been in the Play-Offs if they had not had points taken off them. At the same time we still had to go to Hamilton on the last day of the season and win and hope that Dunfermline would not win. We did that and the players deserved to stay in that Division.”
“They did what they had to do and hopefully that fact has not been overlooked. Our concern was to stay in the Division.”
After two months of not working Cameron took over the reins from Ian Little at Berwick and he said: “When a new manager comes in they sometimes get a better response from the same group of players. You wonder why that is and I am sure that Ian little is wondering why I am getting a response from the players that he was not getting.”
“I have not got a crystal ball to explain that one.”
Getting involved in football again was important to Cameron who said: “You don’t want to get forgotten about and if you are not in the papers you can. It was important to get back in quickly and Berwick have given me that opportunity.”
“I am looking to pay them back. When I took over I told the Chairman what my aim was, and with the players that are here, the Play-Offs are the least we should be looking at. I didn’t think I was being overly confident or overly ambitious by saying that. I had played against them earlier in the season with Cowdenbeath who won 5-0 but there were good players at Berwick.”
“I cannot be any happier in the manner in which they have responded to me in taking over. Everything I have asked of them they have given me. We had a blip against Elgin but we are getting rewards on the pitch.”
Cameron was asked if losing his first job had made him a different manager and he said: “Only time will tell what I have learnt. I take a wee step back now when making decisions whereas before something will have happened and I have decided to change things straight away."
“I think, step back and analyse things to avoid being rash. At the end of the day you might say something that you regret and lose one or two of the players because of that.”
“You also need the humility to turn around to a group of players and apologise. I have done that before and don’t have a problem doing that. If you have made a mistake and admit that to your players then you are going to get support from them.”
As for the rest of the season Cameron said: “I was not going to take over and say I am going to get you promoted and I am going to win you the League because we were 15 points away from Peterhead. “
“They are the leaders as they have been the most consistent side but I cannot be any happier with the way the players are progressing and the goal remains that we cement ourselves in the Play-Offs. If any else comes then it is a bonus and I don’t see that goal changing.”
“We had been on a good run and the players are getting used to seeing themselves in fifth place and that is better than second bottom. They are seeing that their efforts bring rewards although we took a knock last weekend.”
Hopefully we will get over that quickly and continue to drive towards promotion for the rest of the season.”
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