We must go up this term, roars Rossvale boss
ROSSVALE manager Brian McGinty insists anything less than promotion this season will be a failure.
The Vale came fifth in the Central First Division last term, 15 points behind promotion winners Cambuslang Rangers and Larkhall Thistle. McGinty says the minimum requirement this season is to go up but admits he’s aiming to win the league.
He said: “Our aim for this season is to win the league – I’m not saying we are going to win the league but that’s the target I’ve set.
“Winning the league is our aim for this season but our minimum requirement is to at least get promoted.
“Our aims are clear and if we don’t achieve promotion this season, we’ve failed – it’s as simple as that.”
Rossvale will be returning to Huntershill this season following the completion of a new £7.8million complex.
The Vale had been ground-sharing with Petershill since 2011 but after six long years away, the club is finally moving back home.
McGinty said: “Moving back to the Huntershill has created a real buzz, I think everyone is just happy to be back where we belong.
“Obviously we are extremely grateful to Petershill for letting us ground share with them, but it’s so good to be home.”
McGinty has re-signed 11 players from last season’s squad and he has also added four new players to his team.
Midfielder Jamie Hunter was Rossvale’s first summer signing as he rejoined the club after a season at Rutherglen Glencairn. Greg Fernie has also joined the Vale from Carluke Rovers while Stephen McGladrigan and Peter Bradley have arrived from Petershill.
McGinty is delighted with his new signings, but still aims to bring in a few more players before the start of the season.
He said: “I’ve managed to keep the majority of last season’s squad, I was able to keep the players I wanted to keep which was great.
“I’m also delighted to have been able to bring in four new players. I believe the players I’ve brought in are better quality than the ones that have left.
“I still have a couple of other deals in the pipeline that I hope to complete soon but they’re not done yet so I can’t comment on them.”
Elsewhere, Newmains United fans hope their side can ditch the tag of the worst team in the west this season.
Newmains finished bottom of the Central Second Division last term which is the lowest tier of junior football in the West Region.
Despite this, Newmains boss Kevin Muirhead insists the club still had a successful season, albeit just off the pitch. He said: “In terms of league position last season was unsuccessful, but in terms of work done off the park it was a very good season.
“When I first took over last summer there was a very amateur set-up in place here so I had to overhaul the club from top to bottom.
“I implemented sports science techniques as well as a number of other things that haven’t really been done in junior football before. The club is moving in the right direction thanks to the work done off the park.”
ST MIRREN captain Stephen McGinn knows how much it meant to the club’s fans to stay in the Championship last season – but he doesn’t think a club of their size should ever celebrate avoiding relegation.
The circumstances of the Saints’ great escape meant there was an outpouring of joy when they finally avoided the drop into League One.
But McGinn is adamant that a club like St Mirren should never be in such a position again.
“We were carrying the fact St Mirren have never been in the third tier,” McGinn said. “I think they’d have torn the place down if we’d gone down.
“Fans were turning up really early for games because they wanted to do their part. I thought by the end of last season that the whole club was pulling in the right direction. I think that’s why there’s so much optimism around the place just now.
“But a club this size shouldn’t be celebrating avoiding relegation. It was amazing and we’re still on the crest of a wave about how we did it, but we know if we don’t start well, then the punters will expect better.
“We need to have the same mentality. We went into every game knowing we had to win. It will be a different type of pres- sure now but we won’t be fazed by anything. We’ve learned a lot from our experiences.
“It was a bit of a risk going to St Mirren because if the club had gone down you wonder if we might have gone part-time. Was it going to be a sinking ship? But helping turn it around is the proudest achievement of my career.”
THE good feeling around St Mirren was extended further over the summer with manager Jack Ross’s decision to snub Premiership side Dundee.
As a former St Mirren teammate of Ross, the manager was a major factor in McGinn deciding to return to Paisley in January. Ross was a little put out though that his captain hadn’t made more of an effort to beg him to remain at the club.
“He actually asked me why I hadn’t sent him a message asking him to stay!” McGinn said. “But I wouldn’t want someone trying to influence my career decisions. Football’s so short-term. You can go from hero to zero within weeks. I wanted it to be his decision.
“Jack’s so good. We rate him so highly and we love playing for him. We knew there would be interest, but to happen so soon into the summer took us by surprise.
“I think Dundee put such a good offer to him that at one point we were thinking ‘we’re going to lose our manager’.
“It went on for a week to 10 days and we were looking for him to come out and say ‘no’. We were delighted that he stayed.
“It’s not often a manager’s so popular throughout a dressing room but he is. Hopefully he can keep carrying us forward.”