Nacho Novo has thrown his hat into the ring for the vacant Raith Rovers manager’s job.
The former Dundee and Rangers winger has applied for the post following last Sunday’s sacking of Ian Murray.
Novo made his name in Scottish football as a player with Raith when he moved from his native Spain in the summer of 2001.
After netting 22 times in 38 appearances for the Stark’s Park club in a prolific first season, he was snapped up by Dundee 12 months after his arrival in the country.
His form for the Dark Blues, scoring 34 times in two campaigns, attracted the interest of other clubs and he joined Rangers in 2004 in a deal worth a reported £450,000.
A cult hero at Ibrox, Novo returned to Spain to join Sporting Gijon in 2010 and saw out his playing career with stints at Legia Warsaw, Huesca, Morton, Carlisle United, Carolina Railhawks and Glentoran.
Picking up coaching experience along the way with various clubs, in November 2022 he was named as an assistant coach for USL League One club Lexington Sporting Club in the United States.
Doubling up as head coach of the Kentucky club’s U/23 side, Novo stepped in as interim first-team boss at the end of the 2023 season when Sam Stockley opted to concentrate solely on his sporting director role.
Raith targets
Novo then left the club in October last year after a month at the helm and it was announced in June he had joined ambitious sixth-tier West of Scotland outfit Drumchapel United as a coach.
Chief executive Andy Barrowman indicated earlier this week that Raith had targets in mind to replace Murray.
They have been linked with the likes of Peter Leven, Darren O’Dea, Tam Courts, Kevin Thomson and Rhys McCabe since Murray’s exit was announced on Sunday.
“We’ve been inundated in the last 24 hours,” said Barrowman on Monday. “A couple of interesting ones, a couple of wild ones, and everything in between.
“The door is pretty much open but we are pretty clear in our mind on the path we want to go down.”
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