Barry Robson will make his debut in charge of Raith Rovers away to Ayr United on Saturday afternoon.
He has confessed he will need time to get up to speed with his new charges at Stark’s Park, as well as an unfamiliar Championship.
However, there is irony in the fact his first managerial opponent is Scott Brown, who he spent two successful years playing alongside at Celtic before they were reunited on the coaching staff at Aberdeen.
“He’s a good mate of mine, Broony,” said Robson of coming up against his old pal. “He’s done well at Ayr, he’s been in there a while.
“So. I’m looking forward to seeing him and I’ll get a catch-up with him after the game.”
All the focus for Robson is on trying to hit the ground running positively against Ayr.
But much has been made of the fact the trip to Somerset Park is followed by another four away games in his first six in charge.
Rovers are also on the road against Morton and Falkirk in the Scottish Cup before travelling to face Hamilton Accies and rivals Dunfermline after a league clash at home against Falkirk.
‘Players should embrace that’
“It seems to be the way I do it in my career,” added Robson, who is back in work 11 months after being sacked by Aberdeen. “It seems to always be the hard way.
“But, yeah, five out of six away from home! How’s that for you?
“Listen, that’s the challenge. That’s the challenge of where you want to be and I’m looking forward to it.
“The players should embrace that. That’s something we should be looking forward to.”
It has been a whirlwind first week for Robson since being appointed as manager last Sunday.
Monday’s first-day session was a more gentle start to life on the training pitch but his involvement has ramped up since then ahead of the trip to Ayr.
With the January transfer window up and running and the chance of some business to freshen up the squad inherited from Neill Collins, there are likely to be incremental changes visible in the coming weeks.
However, turning Rovers into a side in Robson’s image will be more of a long-term project.
“You don’t just come in and make a team the way you want it to be within a couple of days,” he explained. “It takes time.
‘Build habits’
“You need to build habits in players, obviously.
“You can add some players that you think can help and all these things, but there’s no time limit on anything like that.
“I’m hands-on already, so taking training sessions and stuff.
“But it takes a good while for things to really get to where you want it to be.”
Conversation