Keith manager Craig Ewen expects little Highland League transfer activity as Maroons begin pre-season training
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It’s been a fairly quiet summer for Highland League transfer activity, and Keith manager Craig Ewen doesn’t expect a great deal of movement around clubs.
Ewen led his Maroons into their first pre-season training session last night, with new recruits Murray Addison and Craig Gill joining the squad.
The Kynoch Park boss would like to bring in more fresh faces, and has an unnamed striker on his target list but feels little more business will be carried out.
“You make a decision as a club. You can either go for it with a big fee then put yourself on the back foot financially, or you don’t,” he said.
“Generally just now, clubs are signing up players on longer deals and there is very little movement. “The most any club has signed is three players, I think.”
Ewen lost midfielder Dem Yunus to Inverurie Locos during the close season, with Keith receiving a fee from their league rivals.
“There’s a few on holiday just now but we have round about 20 signed players,” Ewen added.
“You are always looking for one or two players if they are better quality. But you only want anyone who is going to be better than you already have and that is the hard bit.
“I’ll certainly be interested in loans as well but there’s not a lot of players available. We will be keeping our eyes peeled on the loan market to see if there’s anyone we can add but as it stands I am not anticipating too much business for any of the clubs.”
Ewen, his assistant Chris Craib and first team coach Rod McKinnon all signed extended deals to keep them at the Maroons until 2026.
The management team know that trying to break Keith into the higher reaches of the league will be a challenge, but they are keen to see some steps of progress.
“We are just striving to improve,” Ewen added. “That’s our goal for this year, to improve our league position and try and go far in one of the cups perhaps.
“If we can get some performances where we are near our best, we can make that improvement and that is what we are aiming for this season.
“That is the club’s ambitions as well. It will be another tough season when there are no easy games in this league and that will apply to some of the top clubs as well who maybe in the past have managed to get a few big scorelines. I would imagine they will be a lot less now, it feels like it anyway.”
Keith’s pre-season friendly matches begin on July 1.
They will play Ellon United, Banks O’ Dee juniors at Spain Park, Tayport, an Aberdeen XI for Stewart Hutcheon’s testimonial, Islavale, Deveronside and Bridge of Don Thistle.
