We’re raring to go again
Binos boss relishing‘hustle and bustle’of league return
Stirling Albion manager Kevin Rutkiewicz can’t wait for football to return, with the Binos hoping to begin pre-season training at the end of August.
The League 2 campaign is due to start on October 17, with fixtures likely to be published towards the end of this month.
He said: “As a country, we are a lot further forward than a few weeks ago.
“We have made tremendous strides, so before we know it, hopefully will be involved in the hustle and bustle of League 2. In April and May there was the doomsday talk of clubs maybe mothballing for a season but thankfully that has not happened.
“A lot of the clubs have been fairly active in the transfer market — Stranraer have brought in good experience with Darryl Duffy and Greg Fleming. Stenhousemuir have signed Tommy Muir from Annan and he’s a player I like but we already have Dylan Mackin here in that role.
“Queen’s Park are the team everyone is talking about and it will be interesting to see what they do in the next few weeks. Edinburgh will be as good as they have been but the main thing for me is that, on paper, we are improving which we will need to because I think there will be more quality in League 2 overall this season.”
Airdrie midfielder Kurtis Roberts (pictured) became the club’s fourth new signing of the summer last weekend following the recent arrivals of strikers Andy Ryan and Declan Byrne, and winger Kieran Moore.
Rutkiewicz was delighted to seal a deal for Roberts, who impressed with Queen’s
Park in 2018/19 and was a regular for the Diamonds, who finished third in League 1 last season.
He said: “Kurtis has a real humble desire on the pitch
— he works very hard and covers an awful lot of ground. He is great at winning the ball back and at times last season we didn’t do that high enough up the park and we were sitting too deep. He also has a wee bit of a goal threat and is a different type of player to what we had.”
One player who won’t be joining Stirling Albion is Darren Smith.
The former Motherwell and Ross County man was a hugely popular figure at Forthbank and rattled in 25 goals in 2017/18 and 11 the following season before moving to Clyde in summer 2019.
He was in and out of the team under Danny Lennon and was often used as a substitute but his four-goal haul did include one against the Binos in the Scottish Cup. He left Broadwood in May and this week joined ambitious Lowland League outfit East Kilbride, who are managed by former Dumbarton boss Steven Aitken.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed this week that the transfer window in Scotland, which is now open, will close at midnight on Monday, October 5. The Betfred Cup group stage is due to start the following day but clubs in the lower divisions will have until the end of October to sign players on loan.