Edinburgh Caledonia manager Euan Cole aiming to push the club to new heights

From communication to comradery all while participating in the most competitive League One ever, new boss Euan Cole is excited to try and push Edinburgh Caledonia to new heights.

A new era is set to get underway in Edinburgh this weekend as Cole prepares to lead out Edinburgh Caley for their first competitive game under his reign this weekend. It has been a long time coming for the new boss with it being two and a half months since he took on the role in the summer. However, despite the wait, it has had no effect on Cole’s enthusiasm to get underway as the embraces the atmosphere around the club.

“It’s been really great so far,” he told the Edinburgh Evening News. “I knew Sammy [Hyett], the captain and one of the original founders from a previous club that I had worked at. Last season she reached out and asked if I could take a session here and there to help out. I took about three or four sessions in the second half of the season which were good. Everything else would materialise from there. I really enjoyed the atmosphere around the club that the players had so it was a bit of a no-brainer for me to take on the job.”

The environment around the club is one of Cole’s major philosophies as manager. Before taking up the managerial position at Caley, Cole collected a wealth of experience in both men’s and women’s football, most recently at Heriot Watt Under 20s. From these years, he insists that a positive dressing room atmosphere will always lead to positive results on the pitch. The effects of his man-management style can already be seen with the squad doing multiple team-building activities including going for ice cream after their third training session back.

“One thing I have learnt over my years with previous teams is the importance of communication,” he added. “This is the first time I have had a real head coach role and certainly the first time I have learnt the skills. It is about how you communicate to a player that is injured who may be very keen to come back but deep down I know logically, it would push them too hard too soon. It is about clean communication, so they understand what we are doing is to benefit them. As long as the communication is clear, precise and honest, it minimises any issues.

“I’m trying to make sure we have a comradery as well as the football. If the players enjoy the environment and we get to enjoy things together when opportunities present themselves, that’s only going to help us. For me, that is the most important thing whether it is the coaches, starting 11, subs, or people coming back from injury, they should be enjoying their time at the club. That’s the priority and results will come as a result of the positive environment.”

New eras are rare for the Edinburgh side with Maggie Wilson being at the helm for a number of years before Cole’s appointment. Under her reign, she oversaw multiple successes including a run in the Championship before having to step down in the summer due to health reasons. With Cole now taking over, he understands how big the job is, especially with more and more teams assembling highly competitive squads ahead of the new season.

“I certainly know it is big shoes to fill, [Wilson] had done lots of work with the club,” he explained. “They got as high as the Championship in recent years. Her being around for so long isn’t daunting for me but I am certainly aware of how big the job is. I just hope to continue any positive momentum and put my way of doing things into the club. Hopefully, it is another positive experience for everyone.

Edinburgh Caledonia finished sixth last season. Credit: Ger Harley, SportPix for SWF

“I am anticipating a really strong division. I have particularly close attention to the leagues feeding into League One and there are some really good teams who had really good records coming up. It’s not going to be a case of new teams coming up and they are going to struggle, they are going to help really strengthen the division. It is going to be a very good standard in League One this season.”

Cole’s first competitive game in charge of his new side comes this Sunday as they take on Falkirk at Meadowbank Stadium. Edinburgh Caledonia finished sixth last season and with the ambition he and the squad has, the manager sees no reason why they can’t replicate this success in the upcoming campaign.

“We have a set of very ambitious players and I am ambitious myself,” he stated. “We currently train one night a week and a logical next step would be to go to a second night. We also have a partnership with Currie Girls as they come and be ball girls on matchdays. Eventually, I would love to see a full pathway with players coming up right through the system. We’ve had conversations about setting up a second team to play in the regional divisions.

“We don’t know how far we can go, it just depends how far each game goes and how well the environment is kept. From a short-term point of view, this season is every game as it comes. Right now our focus is Falkirk and then I we will see where we are after each game and we will see where we are at the end of the season. We finished in the top half last season after a strong second half of the campaign, if we can replicate that, that’ll be a success. Any more than that will just be amazing.”