Stevie lightens the load
Sunday Mail 55
Stevie Aitken insists that ambitious East Kilbride can be a beacon of light in a dark time for Scottish football.
The Lowland League outfit raised plenty of eyebrows last week when they snapped up experienced SPFL stars Paul Paton, Lewis Kidd and Kyle Wilkie for their title charge next term.
The capture of ex-Partick Thistle, Dundee United and Northern Ireland midfielder Paton was a particular coup, given he was club captain at Championship Dunfermline last season and made 31 appearances for the Fifers.
Kilby are also eyeing a swoop for Chris Erskine after his departure from Premiership Livingston.
And boss Aitken reckons East Kilbride are building an attractive project which players will be keen to join.
He said: “The pitch we have is the same for everyone, ‘ Come and be par t of something good going forward’. Scottish football is in a dark place and, with us, they can see light at the end of the tunnel.
“The board and owners are really keen to take this club forward and try to climb through the leagues to the senior set-up.
“To do that, I need to attract quality players – and guys like Paul Paton are the start of the recruitment process. Lewis Kidd and Kyle Wilkie have come in, we’re talking to Chris Erskine.”
Kilby will bid to overtake Barry Ferguson’s bigname Kelty Hearts, who won the Lowland League title last season.
With the likes of Tam Scobbie, Craig Reid, Dylan Easton and 48-goal striker Nathan Austin in their ranks, they will be favourites to make it two in a row.
But Aitken looks forward to the challenge of catching them and guiding Kilby up through the leagues.
Speaking to PLZ Soccer, he said: “Kelty will be the team to beat. They signed qual ity players, which showed in their performance in the league.
“I’ve had pressure – we had it at Dumbarton to keep them in the Championship and we achieved that in two of our three seasons.
“Pressure comes with any manager’s job.”