KEV’S HOLS WRANGLE
Rutkiewicz swerved a Croatia trip for job
Kevin Rutkiewicz has revealed his commitment to East Kilbride landed him in the bad books with his wife.
The new Kilby gaffer was appointed last month in a ‘whirlwind’ move that saw him replace Chris Aitken at the helm for the final few games of this season.
And now the 41-year-old former Stirling Albion boss has had to cancel a trip to Croatia for his wife’s birthday.
It’s a move that has landed him in hot water, but he insists football comes first.
Rutkiewicz, who claimed his first win in charge on Saturday after a 6-0 win over Bo’ness, explained: “I was prepared to get back into football at the drop of a hat – and this job was the drop of a hat.
“I’d booked a holiday to Croatia with the missus, a wee four-day trip this month, without really thinking about it.
“This job was not something that was in the pipeline, but I’m just not going to miss football for a holiday.
“I’m in the bad books now and I’ll need to earn those brownie points back, I’m afraid.
“I’m trying to negotiate with the hotel if we can change dates or whatever.
“But it’s one of these things and it shows you how quickly things happened for me here.
“I’m sure I’ll get my wee break somewhere along the line – but I’ve had a long enough break from football this season.
“The missus is going to have to deal with that and I can deal with getting the eyes rolled at me for the next four weeks.
“It’s part and parcel of being a football guy!”
Instead of sunning himself in Southeast Europe, Rutkiewicz will be at K-Park this weekend and the visit of champions Bonnyrigg Rose in their last league game.
That comes after a visit to Dalbeattie Star tonight (Wednesday) in their final match of the Lowland League Cup group stage, from which EK have already secured progression to the knockout stages.
Rutkiewicz is continuing to assess the players at his disposal.
He said: “We’ve been trying to rotate things a wee bit because I want to give everybody a platform to showcase their best skill-set.
“I want to give everyone a fair crack at it.
“We dropped Aiden McDonald on Saturday and brought young Luke Kenny in. Ross McLaughlin and Greg Stewart have started the last two games. We’re trying to look at everyone.”