THE feeling around Braehead Clan at the end of last season was that things were pretty grim.

Under head coach John Tripp, the Glasgow side finished in ninth position in the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) which resulted in them missing the play-offs and this was the final straw for the Braehead management, who chose to let Tripp go in light of the team’s performances over the season.

In came Pete Russell, who was appointed Braehead’s new head coach last month and has been tasked with rejuvenating and reinvigorating a side that sorely disappointed last season. It is something of a homecoming for the Scot, who is himself a Glaswegian but has spent the past three years as head coach of rival EIHL side, Milton Keynes Lightening.

And the 43-year-old admits he couldn’t be more thrilled to be picking up the reins.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve coached in Scotland so to be coming back is a pretty cool thing and I’m really passionate about that,” he said.

“It’s a great time to come back to the club and we’re all going to work together and push it forward again. It’s a great honour to become Braehead’s new coach.”

Despite having only been in post for a few weeks, Russell has a clear idea in his mind of what he wants to do with the team and in which direction he wants to take the side. And he has the intention of making a number of new signings ahead of the season starting in September.

“It’s a rebuild now - there’ll be a lot of new faces and there’ll be a few returnees,” he said.

“There’s a bit of a shake-up going on and it’s about starting again so I’m going to try to build a team that’s exciting and fast and got a bit of grit in it, and also make it a team that people want to come and watch.

“I’ve got a vision of where I want to take the club and there’s a certain type of player I want that fits into the team’s philosophy and system.

“You’ve got to use your 14 imports and also get a good core of Brits. I’ve got a target list of players I’d like to get but you’ve also got to sit within the budget but I definitely think we’re going to have an exciting team.”

There has been considerable discussion since Russell’s appointment as to whether of not he is the right man for the job, particularly as Milton Keynes finished below Braehead in last season’s EIHL. But Russell is confident that he has exactly what it takes to make a success of his tenure and he is optimistic of what Braehead can achieve over the next 12 months.

“I think I’ll bring hard work and honesty,” he said.

“I’m pretty passionate and I hope I’ll bring a lot of enjoyment for people because I think that’s important. We want to make Braehead a place that teams don’t want to come to. When that place is full, it’s rocking and I’d love to recreate that.

“I don’t know if being Scottish is an advantage. Of course there’s a lot of north Americans in the game and I’m different in the way I do things, for sure. I show more emotion than some of those guys do and I think people in Scotland like that.

“We want to try to make sure we win the conference and you’ve got to get back in the play-offs and then take it from there. It’s a big club so there’s high expectations but this league is tough and there’s a lot of good teams in it.

“But I’m confident we can be where we want to be next season.”

Russell’s managerial experience is not confined to club ice hockey however, as the Scot is also the current manager of the GB team, a position in which he will continue in concurrence with his role at Braehead Clan. GB performed impressively in their most recent outing by defeating Hungary at the end of last month to secure promotion from the World Championship Division 1A to ice hockey’s elite for the first time since 1994 and the job Russell has done with GB bodes well for Braehead but there should be, he says, no concerns about his national job interfering with his responsibilities at Braehead.

“It’s fine combining the two, it doesn’t affect anything at all,” he said.

“It’s an honour to coach your country and as long as they want me to do it for, I’ll do it but it will never affect my day job. My day job is my bread and butter and that’s a big thing for me. It’s a longer-term contract with Braehead and the plan is to build something and so it’ll be great to be a part of that.”