Director of Football Stuart Millar believes a return to full-time football will boost Airdrieonians are finally back after after Scottish Cup Celtic exit derailed our season says midfielder Kyle Wilkie promotion push next term.
The Diamonds will look to take on the top teams in League One with a mix of part-time and full-time talent next term.
The move comes just 16 months after the incoming consortium at the club decided to return to part-time football, and after just one full season in the model.
Miller states that the hybrid model was one of “a number” of things he raised as when he came into the club last month, and was given the green light after talks last week.
The DoF, who took on the role after departing Stranraer, is setting his target at an even crop of both part-time and full-time talent after a disappointing season - which was compounded by Montrose ending the hopes of a promotion bid at the Penny Cars Stadium.
“Airdrie set out at the start of the season to be in a far better position than they will end up this season,” he told the Youth focus for new Airdrieonians director of football Stuart Millar as he backs boss Ian Murray
“It’s been a very poor season by Airdrie’s standards, bearing in mind we finished seventh last season and that was considered a poor season.
Youth focus for new Airdrieonians director of football Stuart Millar as he backs boss Ian Murray
“The hopes and aspirations of everyone at the club was to finish in a promotion play-off position at the very least, and that’s obviously not materialised.
“We have to look forward rather than back the way, as unfortunately we are in a blame culture. It’s his fault, her fault, we have to look forward.
“Looking forward means the hybrid model we are trying to implement for next season. There is no guarantee it will bring success but it will give us a better opportunity to try and achieve success.
“We have a full-time manager and he obviously needs full-time players to work with. I can’t say whether we are going to have between 12 and 14 full-time players or less than 10, we need to see how it is going to escalate.
“The talks with potential targets, and talks with the players we have got, will help us find out what the ratio will be. We are aiming for about a half and half.
“We want to be in there chasing players that have maybe been released by full-time clubs but we don’t want to restrict ourselves and not attract the better part-time players.
“There is no concerns that we are living beyond our means. The club owners have been very supportive and they want success, and that would mean getting out of this division.
“I can totally understand fans saying they have heard this all before as actions speak louder than words. I would say myself and Ian Murray need to be given a chance to put a winning team on the park.”
The Diamonds had previously been full-time while Tom Wotherspoon was the helm.
Millar expects it to be different this time around, as they can still hold down some of the best part-time talent in the lower leagues.
He told the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser: “I don’t know too many of the details of the previous spell in full-time football, but my understanding is there was a huge amount of younger players who were given an opportunity.
“It also forced out the better part-time players, like Neil Parry. He had to move on, and that’s not what we would want. We still want to get the better part-time players.
“We’ll not be full-time, and I feel like the dynamics this time will be totally different. I hope the fans can trust us at this present moment.”
Having signed a host of part-time players last summer, the director of football admits there will be a lot of changes to the squad. However, plans are already underway for the clear-out.
“We will speak to all the existing players,” continued the chief.
“We have a dozen players who are signed up for another year as well, and there is a total imbalance at the club right now.
“When you look at the season we have had it’s quite obvious that we need to clear the decks. We need to create enough space that will allow us to bring in players.
“Every year there is a huge amount of players available and Ian Murray has already identified a number of players that he would like at the club, and we will walk towards bringing in players of the correct standard that want to play for Airdrie. It’s quite obvious that change is required.”
Gaffer Ian Murray also backed the switch, adding: ““It’s certainly a positive move, one we’re looking forward to and it’s now about recruitment.
“The heritage of the football club means Airdrie is not a League One club. The last 10 to 15 years they’ve been in the doldrums and we understand that we’re not where we want to be.
“It’s up to ourselves and myself as manager to rectify that. We want to get the right players in who are hungry and can keep the club going forward; that’s the challenge.”
