Rutherglen Glencairn boss' joy after double striker swoop as he adds firepower

Rutherglen Glencairn boss Joe Pryce hopes strikers Scott Jarvie and Jack McIlveen can fire his side to the West of Scotland Premier Division.

Jarvie, 30, comes in from Blantyre Vics, while 24-year-old McIlveen is returning to the club from Premier side Gartcairn, having left last summer.

Added to that are striker Adam Cummings from Pollok, and midfielders Ross Paton (Fauldhouse) and Andy McLaughlin (Cumnock), while midfielders Paul Welsh and Isaac Frain have been promoted from the club’s under-21s.

Pryce said: “I’m delighted to get Scott in. He’s a proven striker in our division, he’s got good experience and he scored the last four times he’s played against us, so we know his capabilities and he will be a really good addition to the squad.

"He's a player we had been looking at in the last couple off years, and we were envious of Blantyre having him there, but with their manager John Gibson moving on to Kirkintilloch Rob Roy there was a wee opportunity that we could maybe prise him from Blantyre.

"We’re delighted to have him, I’m sure he will be a great asset to the club.

"Jack McIlveen is coming back, and that would add the goals that we’re looking for, when you bring in Blantyre’s top goal-scorer and our top goal-scorer coming back.

"Jack felt he wanted to try the Premier League, but it just didn’t work out for him and that will be great.

"With Scott Jarvie in, Ryan McManus and Dylan Collins there and young Adam Cummings, who was on loan from Pollok last year, he’s going to sign as our player, so we’re very grateful to them for that.

"We’ve added two boys from the under-21s who have come in, Paul Welsh and Isaac Frain, we’ve got Ross Paton, a midfield player coming in fron Fauldhouse, and we’ve signed the experienced midfielder Andy McLaughlin from Cumnock, who is going to help us out as well.

"We were looking for maybe five or six, we’ve managed to get those, and there might well be one more, just to get the squad up to the numbers we’re looking for.

"I’m delighted with the signings we’ve made, they’re going to enhance the squad, and we can’t wait for the games to start.”

Heading in the opposite direction are goalkeeper Mateusz Miller, defenders Lewis Blane and Callum MacDonald, midfielders Austin Sime and Matty Gear, and striker’s Fraser Anderson and Kit Cummins.

Pryce said: “They’ve all decided to move on, and we wish them all the best. They’re all great lads, they played their part last season for us, but it’s just football, that’s the way it works and players move on for their own reasons.

"They were all great boys, not an ounce of bother off any of them, they worked really hard, were good players, and will be an asset to whatever club they go to.”

Pryce reckons his squad is settled now, and is pleased to have done his business early.

He said: “I’m delighted with progress so far. We wanted to get it all done and dusted because last year was a quick turnaround of a couple of weeks, due to the Scottish Junior Cup final.

"This year we’ve had more time to get things sorted and if we can get everything nailed down by the first pre-season game I’d be absolutely delighted.

"As we all know, through pre-season things happen, other players become available, so we never stop looking for anything that’s going to enhance the squad, so if anyone can come in and help us we’ll certainly have a look at it.”

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