Albion Rovers end season with defeat as boss eyes summer clear-out

Sandy Clark says there will be a clear-out at Albion Rovers as he strives to bring in experienced players who can challenge for next season’s Lowland League title.

The Cliftonhill gaffer needs to strengthen in every area, and knows he’s up against a lot of obstacles to do that – but will work hard at it over the next few weeks.

Rovers finished ninth in the table after a run of poor results that ended with a 2-1 defeat at Berwick Rangers on Saturday, taking just one point from five games.

“If we had ended up sixth or seventh in the league, I think that would have been fair,” said Clark, “with all things being considered, with budgets, other teams and everything else.

“Ninth, to me, isn’t great.

“I’m trying to plan for next season, which is basically that some players will leave the club.

“If we want to be higher up the league and challenge, the ones that come in have to be better than the ones that leave.

“The hard bit is trying to recruit the right ones. I’ve been trying to look at different people for the past couple of months, and that will continue over the next few weeks.

“Hopefully we’ll be a stronger, more experienced team, come the start of the season.

“We started last season with one signed player and I’ve got eight at the moment that I’ve signed and they’ve all got a year under their belt, so hopefully we can kick on and be more successful next season.”

Clark added: “Saturday has been typical of the season for us. We’ve taken one point from the last five games but we haven’t played badly.

“We make naive mistakes and we’ve lost the knack of sticking the ball in the back of the net, with the chances that we’re making, so the combination of both makes it hard to win games.

“We’ve had spells during the season where it has been that little bit of inconsistency, but I’m 100 per cent aware of that.

“We need proven players at this level right throughout the team, to improve in all areas.

“It sounds simple, but I know from experience and practice that it’s really difficult, because there are a lot of teams out there who are trying to do the same thing.

“You’re going to be competing for guys who have offers from League Two and League One, and that obviously makes it harder for us.

“But we’re working at it and we’re hopeful that we’ll be successful in that.”

Vandalism at Cliftonhill

Albion Rovers have launched a fundraising page after Cliftonhill was targeted by vandals last week.

On April 14 the club reported the stadium was broken into, advertising boards were “ripped off” and their tunnel hood “smashed up”, while their Garden of Remembrance was also hit.

A JustGiving page has been set up to enable the cash-strapped club to install CCTV cameras, and Rovers boss Sandy Clark said: “The police are on it, they’re trying to deal with it.

"The club are looking to see how we can help with the community to stop this from happening.

“It’s a small group of young guys and it will catch up with them. The sooner they behave themselves the better.”

You can donate to the club's page here.

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