East Kilbride boss Kevin Rutkiewicz says he had to move fast to snap up midfielder Ronan Hughes following his release from Hamilton Accies.
The Kilby boss has signed the 23-year-old alongside ex-Clyde defender Billy Mortimer (25) and former Dumbarton stopper Stephen Bronsky, 27, and says he’s not finished in the transfer market just yet.
Rutkiewicz still needs a goalkeeper to replace Conor Brennan, and is working hard on that, but hopes for positive news in the coming days after holding re-signing talks with striker Joao Victoria.
After bringing in Hughes, Mortimer and Bronsky – adding to defenders Jonathan Page, Conor Morgan and midfielder Andy Black – Rutkiewicz is happy so far.
He said: “We brought in three players there that add a mixture of experience, quality and energy, hopefully.
“I know Ronan really well, but we had to go quick with it – the longer a player like Ronan is out there, there will be teams swarming around him.
“Ronan’s at a place in his career where he just needs to play football regularly.
“I’m a huge admirer, otherwise I wouldn’t have been trying so hard to get him here. I’ve had the old chisel and hammer out, chipping away at him for the last four or five weeks.
“Ronan is a player of real quality, and if the club have that real ambition to keep this going for the next two, three, four years, Ronan could absolutely be part of that, but the responsibility there falls with the player, eventually.
“First and foremost, it’s great to get him over the line, and now along with Stephen and Billy and the rest of the team it’s just about preparing them now.”#
Bronsky and Mortimer have both been at East Kilbride before, and Rutkiewicz says that experience will help them, going forward.
He said: “I think it’s important that some people at the club know what it’s all about. We’ve got BJ Coll, who last season got his 200th appearance with the club.
“Stephen knows the club relatively well, he’s been here, he knows what it’s all about, and Billy knows what the club and league is all about.
“He earned a move to Clyde, and I think we’re getting players who are progressive.
“Big Stephen has a couple of hundred games in the leagues now, and he’s a battle-hardened centre-half, but at 27 I would hope – fingers crossed – that his best years are ahead of him.”
Rutkiewicz will head off on a belated holiday this week, but says the work is on-going.
He said: “I’m happy, it’s beginning to take shape. Looking at the back, it’s beginning to look a lot better, and there’s the goalkeeper situation, but we’re very active in that at the minute.
“There are other bits and pieces there that we need to be working on, but I’m happy. We’re probably looking for some central midfield depth, and probably a striker, winger or wide player – any sort of last-third player.
“It’s about priorities, now, and I’d say that a goalkeeper is slowly making its way to the top of that list.
“Things with Joao Victoria are progressing really well and there will hopefully be some positive news on that soon.”
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