Skipper: ‘bigboots tofillat K-Park’
Barry Russell admits East Kilbride have been left stunned by Billy Stark’s shock departure from the managerial hot seat.
The K-Park club insisted last week that Stark would take the team for next season, but within a matter of hours the club announced he had resigned to take up a full-time role at the SFA.
Russell and his team-mates had assembled last Tuesday night to start discussions for the 2018/19 campaign, only to discover their gaffer was heading for the exit.
“It was a bit of a shock. We were never expecting that when we came in for a meeting,” said Russell.
“We were all looking forward to next season with the gaffer, so it’s a bit gutting that he is leaving. Whoever comes in will have big boots to fill.
“For him to leave us now, it must be the right job so good luck to him.
“I don’t think we’ll be short of applications for the job, but it needs to be the right appointment for us this time.
“Every season it’s been a rebuilding job and we’ll need to do that again, but at least the gaffer is good enough to hang around for a few weeks to help move things forward.”
Stark was brought in last summer tasked with helping Kilby retain their Lowland League title and going one better in the SPFL play-offs after Kilby lost to Cowdenbeath in the final on penalties last season.
EK came up short in that quest as they relinquished their crown to Spartans on the final day of the season.
However, Russell still praised the former Celtic coach and Scotland under-21 boss for his work at K-Park, insisting it’s the players who should shoulder the blame for their disappointing campaign.
He added: “I think he was a successful appointment for the club. I think it was the players who let him down.
“He knew how he wanted us to play, but we couldn’t do it for him.
“Losing the league wasn’t the gaffer’s fault and I’ve already said a couple of weeks ago that we owe him an apology for that.
“It was hard for Billy to see who were the best players and what his best formation was when he came in, but I really enjoyed the training and I want to thank him for everything he did for us over the season.”