Craig Malcolm hopes his exit from East Kilbride will herald the start of a more youthful squad at K-Park next season – as he believes too many veterans in the side have played a part in their shortcomings this term.
The 35-year-old called time on his four-year spell at his hometown team last week, amid struggles with a hamstring injury.
Malky captained the club to the Lowland League title in 2019 and his departure means there are now no players remaining from that title-winning squad.
This season Stevie Aitken and latterly his brother Chris, who took over as manager in August, assembled an experienced squad for this term’s Lowland League title push, with ex-Aberdeen striker Lee Miller (38), St Johnstone Scottish Cup winner Chris Millar (38) and ex-Killie defender Steven Old (35) among the recruits.
It’s a strategy that Malcolm feels didn’t work out with the club sitting fifth in the table and 14 points adrift of runaway leaders Bonnyrigg Rose.
But he is confident that will be rectified next season and his exit is the start of a move towards a much younger squad.
He said: “I think I’m the last one from that league winning side and I think the club needs to go down a different route now anyway.
“The manager knows that, the chairman knows that and I think they are trying to get fresh legs in to give them a lift for what’s left of this season, and more importantly, to prepare for next season.
“Hopefully they can go and get the job done and manage to go one step better than we’ve managed so far.
“We’ve had a wee bit of bad luck with injuries this season, but at the same time that probably comes from the age of the squad.
“There’s a lot of guys there who are on the wrong side of 35 never mind 30 so you are always going to pick up issues at that age and there are probably too many players of that age there. Experience is great – you need it to be successful – but there’s too many older bodies there at the moment and the manager is aware of that.
“He is actively looking to get young energetic boys in to help the older guys out.”
Chris Aitken has moved for the likes of St Mirren youth duo Daniel McManus and Luke Kenny, who have belied their 18 years of age in impressive performances this term.
Twenty-year-old Ciaran McAninch has stepped up from the club’s under-20s and provided cause for optimism going forward.
Malcolm added: “It’s a big few months for the club.
“I think they will be looking to get more young guys in for now and next season. The last couple of years we have been playing catch-up for the first 10 games and really struggled to bounce back from that.
“It’s so important to get a good start and I believe the club is doing a lot of work to make that happen.”
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