Stuart’s back on the tools
Veteran returns for season to cover centre-half roles
Stuart Malcolm, East Kilbride’s assistant manager, has come out of retirement to boost their squad for the Lowland League campaign.
Brian Kerr’s right-hand man has been involved in Kilby’s pre-season training and played the second half of last Wednesday’s 2-1 win over a Celtic Development team.
The 38-year-old has revealed he will be adopting a player/coach role this season to provide back-up for the title contenders.
Malcolm called time on his playing career while at Forfar in 2016, but his experience as Kerr’s No. 2 at Albion Rovers last season has encouraged him to return to the field.
Kerr and Malcolm looked on in horror as the Rovers squad became decimated by injuries in the latter half of the season and they ended up being relegated.
The former Ross County and Arbroath defender regrets not being able to step in and help with the injury crisis.
So he is keeping in shape to provide cover should EK need it during the title push.
Malcolm said: “I’ve been doing the preseason as a back-up, just in case injuries and suspensions crop up.
“We are still working hard to get a centre-half in, so for now it’s more of a precaution.
“I played the second half of the Celtic game and I quite enjoyed it but I’m at the wrong end of my career.
“I retired because I wanted to go into the coaching side of things, which I love doing, but last season at Albion Rovers I could have helped out at times if I’d been fit enough.
“So I’m doing the pre-season to make sure, if there are any epidemics for a spell, I can help out.
“But I can only play centre-half. I’m
FROM PAGE 60 nearly 39 so I won’t be playing at full-back or anything. Those days are long gone.”
Malcolm has been able to work closely with the squad and admits there is a big stepup in quality from what they were working with at Albion Rovers last season.
The Kilby squad is bursting with SPFL experience this season following the captures of Jamie Longworth, Craig Malcolm, Graeme Holmes and Anton Brady, to name just a few.
“With the numbers and quality we have in this squad, it will be a higher calibre of team over the 18 players we had at Rovers,” Malcolm insisted.
“Don’t get me wrong, there were guys like Alan Trouten who were excellent for us at Rovers and went on to bigger things, but we had a tiny squad and never had the numbers to change a team from week to week.
“Brian and I have worked hard to get the right people in. They had to be hungry, have ability and a will to win because we know what our remit is.
“The players we’ve brought in know what we are trying to achieve and we believe they can get us there.
“The quality of the squad is going to be up there and it’s up to the boys to fight and make sure they are in the starting 11 because there will be a lot of competition for places.
“It’s going to be refreshing for ourselves to have a full squad to work with.”