Kirkintilloch Rob Roy boss Stewart Maxwell rules out summer squad overhaul

Kirkintilloch Rob Roy boss Stewart Maxwell has admitted he’s hoping for a quieter summer than usual on the transfer front.
Rob Roy boss Stewart Maxwell with Players' Player of the Year Martin McBrideRob Roy boss Stewart Maxwell with Players' Player of the Year Martin McBride
Rob Roy boss Stewart Maxwell with Players' Player of the Year Martin McBride

Like most bosses, Maxwell expects close-season comings and goings to some extent, and has lost midfielder Joe Slattery to Rossvale.

But having been forced to draft in reinforcements during the season to cope with a seemingly endless injury crisis, he expects his squad to be tweaked rather than undergo wholesale changes.

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In fact, given his side’s form towards the end of the season once he had a fully fit squad to choose from - staving off relegation and reaching the West of Scotland Cup final - he’s actually sorry the season has come to a close.

He said: “I’m not planning on having a high turnover, I’m planning on keeping it quite tight and just add one or two.

“I’ve got two or three in the squad that I’m still trying to sign. If they sign I’ve got good numbers because I had a lot of personnel changes during the year.

“There are a lot of new signings who joined around the turn of the year and they’re still bedding themselves in. But we’re starting to see the benefits of that now and I’m just disappointed the season has finished because we’ve hit really good form.

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“In the first half of the season I was wanting it to end because they were terrible.

“But overall we’ve achieved our objectives by staying up and we’ve had a good cup run, so we’ve done OK.”

With the club hoping to move into a new stadium back in Kirkintilloch by the end of the year, ending their five-year period of exile at Cumbernauld, where they have shared Guy’s Meadow with Cumbernauld United, Maxwell is hoping that better times are on the horizon for the club after a difficult few years.

He’s excited at the prospect of his hometown club returning to Kirkintilloch at long last and developing as a club the local community can rally round and be part of.

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And there’s already a feelgood factor developing over the potential success of a pathway between the club’s younger age groups and senior squad, particularly in light of the under-19s’ memorable Scottish Cup triumph last month.

He said: “I’ve got a lot of young guys in the team and a lot of good young boys coming through.

“With the under-19s doing really well I think that’s the catalyst going forward.

“We’re trying to nurture talent and bring it through and I’m all for giving young boys a chance.

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“It doesn’t matter what age you are and that’s our template going forward, our ethos of working.

“We want to bring boys and through and develop them. If they kick on to the next level then great, if they don’t they can still have a good career playing with Rob Roy.”