Colin Nish wants return to management after release by Cowdenbeath

Colin Nish is confident he can make a successful return to management despite not having his contract renewed at Cowdenbeath.

Former Hibernian and Kilmarnock striker Nish took charge of the Scottish League 1 side in the summer after signing as a player in January 2015. 

The club suffered a second straight relegation at the weekend when they lost 2-1 on aggregate to Queen's Park in the League 1 play-off semi-final.

On Thursday the club released a statement announcing Nish would not be offered a new contract after his deal expired at the end of the season.

Despite relegation to Scotland's fourth tier, Nish told Sky Sports News HQ he was surprised by the decision as he had been assured he would be at Central Park regardless of where the club finished this season.

He said: "Whether we were relegated or not I was told I'd be there and I think at that time we were bottom of the league. We went on a good run and just missed out on staying up automatically.

"That's why I'm disappointed. I've been involved in football for a long time and I know these things don't make much of a difference until something is signed."

"I was never in the position where I was 100 per cent sure I'd be there, but at the same time I thank Cowdenbeath for the opportunity. I've learned a lot this year which will hopefully hold me in good stead for the future."

With limited resources, the former Hartlepool forward believes he did the best job possible and would love another go at management in the near future.

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"I'm proud of myself because I feel that I did a good job based on the budget that I had, which is all I can go by," he said.

Nish continued: "I want to do something in football, that's my passion and that's what I enjoy doing. I've certainly not lost any confidence. If anything I've gained confidence in my managerial capabilities.

"I've learned a lot this year, probably more than I did in my playing career in terms of different things about being a manager. I will definitely come back stronger given the opportunity.

"The beginning of the season was really tough. I didn't have a team basically. Then I built a team I felt was capable of challenging for the play-offs going up the way.

"In January we lost a couple of players I signed on loan at the start, but we could only get them until January and they unfortunately left. That made it really difficult to build a team again. I felt like I nearly got there but there wasn't enough time to do it at the end of the season."

"I don't see any benefits from Cowdenbeath not keeping me on as a manager. I don't see what's going to change for them next year with a different manager. I think I proved this year that I was capable of building a team on a small budget. Unfortunately I lost that in January but I did prove that I can do it."

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Nish took Cowdenbeath to the Scottish Cup fourth round this year, where they were drawn against a resurgent Rangers at Ibrox. 

The tie was subsequently chosen to be live on Sky Sports, but Nish says the occasion was more of a hindrance than a highlight of his managerial career.

He said: "It was a distraction we didn't need really. And at the time we were going quite well and it was around that time we lost a lot of our players so that was the start of a difficult couple of months.

"The money the club received didn't do me any good in the long run because in January it's hard to sign players so the money will probably be best used now.

"So I never got any benefit out of that. I'm not saying that the club wouldn't have given me any money to strengthen. But hopefully that money benefits the new manager and helps the club bounce back up."