By Craig Goldthorp

Copyright thesouthernreporter

Peebles-born former midfielder Rossi, 37, a former Vale of Leithen player who has replaced Ian Flynn in the dugout at Victoria Park, told the Southern Reporter: “Peebles is my home town team so building it from the ground up there I was taking on a lot of pressures. “Football even at this level is like a full-time job. “Obviously I had a wee girl (now four-year-old Sienna) as well so it was at that point I just looked at maybe where I was and thought I had to spend a little bit more time with the girls up the road. So that was the thinking there. “At the moment I wasn’t looking for a job to be honest with you. I wasn’t looking to really get back in but there was a phonecall made and as soon as I started talking to Vale I found myself being back in a situation where I had a wee bit of attachment having previously played there so I knew all the guys. “The emotional attachments are still there as well and I was one of those guys that’s always championing for the local teams to do well. “I thought: ‘Could I go in and try and help them? Could I try and maybe give them a bit of fortune?’ “When I asked all those questions and spoke to the boss at home (wife Laura) and she was kind of giving her blessings then I thought I could definitely try and do something for them until the end of the season minimum and try and get them on the right path in competing again.” When asked what he has been doing since exiting football management nearly two years ago, Rossi replied: “Basically just hiding from my phone to be honest with you. “I’ve got a little football academy in Peebles which I was trying to concentrate on building as the day job. “We’re in primary schools, coaching all the way from primary one. Taking the three to five-year-olds on a Saturday morning keeps me on my toes and then we’ve got programmes right the way through to high school ages and one-to-ones and all that kind of stuff. It’s kind of just built around the Monday to Sunday. “I jumped into another wee role that was sort of helping Peebles FC with grassroots development, whatever you would want to call it. “I’ve been putting my energies into over the last sort of couple of years. “The coaching side of things with the kids is a big part of my life but I do miss the changing room that comes with the senior side of things. “I know what I can offer know what you can kind of offer. Sometimes you can give up the other side of the game in a second with the results and headaches that sometimes come with that. “But I’ve been away long enough to know that I’m probably ready to jump back in now and try and give as much as I possibly can to these guys down at Victoria Park.” Rossi – who is being assisted by fellow ex-Vale player Paul Dickson and current coaches Tam McFadyen and Callum Williamson – takes over with the Innerleithen outfit tenth in the 11-team East of Scotland Football League third division with three points from five matches. His first game in charge is a league contest at home to bottom club Ormiston Primrose this Saturday in a 2.30pm kick-off. Rossi said: “The boys will need to work hard as possible. That’s a given at any level. “I’ll need to do that as well. We’re going to have to make sure we build it as quickly and as best as possible. “There’s no overnight magic wand but I said that to the club I’m definitely going to give it my absolute best. “It’s part of the challenge that I’ve taken on and I’m looking forward to it. It’s almost like hopefully I can certainly leave it in a better place than I’m going to find it, without being too disrespectful. “The guys at the club deserve a wee bit of positivity because they’ve kind of suffered for a wee while going down the divisions.”