Ray McKinnon has admitted the lure of working in full-time football again at Raith Rovers was a powerful one.
Prior to joining the Kirkcaldy side last week, he had been managing at League One part-timers Brechin City.
McKinnon, who starred for Dundee United, Nottingham Forest and Aberdeen during his playing career, is now looking forward to working with the Rovers squad on a daily basis.
However, he admitted he would not commit himself to a particular football philosophy, instead stressing that what he wanted was to simply put together a squad capable of winning games.
He said: “As an ex-player, I understand what it’s like to be in a football club every day I did it for 20 years.
“It’s only natural for me to feel that way and it’s a great opportunity to come and work with the players and hopefully getting them buying into the way you want to play.
“That time-scale, the difference between part-time and full-time, gives you a greater opportunity to work with the players and hopefully that will benefit them.
“I just want to win, that’s the bottom line, and I’ll do whatever it takes to win games.
“I’m not going to flannel anybody with philosophies or anything like that. Don’t get me wrong, there is a certain manner that people like to play, but ultimately you want to win games.
“That’s what it’s about winning. It’s not about anything else in my mind.”
McKinnon has begun speaking to the out-of-contract Raith players about next season but he also admitted that he would look to the club’s youth set-up as well as try to find hidden gems elsewhere.
He said: “Of course, if you can source the best young talent that’s out there and attract them here that would be great.
“But I’m sure there will be a lot of competition from other clubs, which is understandable.
“Dundee United have brought the boy Simon Murray from Arbroath and they got Robbie Muirhead from Kilmarnock.
“I can see Dundee are now doing the exact same thing, so there is a lot of competition.
“But if we can see a young player who we think is talented, then we’ll definitely try to recruit him, there’s no doubt about that.
“We’ll certainly be looking at the Academy first and seeing what’s coming through there. We will see if we can get our hands on the best young Academy players that are going to be turning 16 and things like that.
“That’s certainly an area we’ll be trying to tap into from now on in.”