New Keith manager Andy Roddie hopes to be the man to get the Maroons challenging at the top end of the Highland League again.
The former Aberdeen and Motherwell was announced as the club’s new boss last week, alongside his assistant Tommy Wilson, replacing Dean Donaldson.
Keith finished ninth last season in a curtailed season and they last won silverware in 2013 in the Highland League Cup. Their last Highland League title came in 2007.
Roddie and Wilson were in charge at Huntly for 12 months before leaving at the end of November 2017. In the intervening period Roddie has been working in the Middle East and taking part in SFA coaching courses.
He hopes on his return to the Highland League, he can be part of a resurgence for the Banffshire club.
Roddie said: “The loyal fanbase Keith have got and the history of the club is fantastic. That was a big attraction for us when the job became available.
“They want to be up there challenging, which they haven’t been for a number of years for various reasons. We’re hoping to change that.
“We had other offers, myself and Tommy, that we’ve turned from other clubs. When this one came we were certainly interested and delighted to get the job.”
Roddie and Wilson took in Keith’s friendly with Formartine at the weekend but the new manager is not comfortably judging where the club sits in comparison with the rest of the league.
He added: “It’s very early days for us to judge. We haven’t seen what the other teams are like. We saw Formartine at the weekend and the experience they’ve got; they competed very well and proved they’re capable of challenging teams like Formartine, who are expected to be at the top end of the table.
“We won’t get carried away with that until we put our stamp on the team.”
The Maroons start the league season away to Inverurie Locos on November 28 but first have an Aberdeenshire Cup tie against Huntly on Saturday.
Roddie said: “People know myself and Tommy – we’ve been in the Highland League before and know the brand of football we want to play.
“The players that we’ve attracted to the club, the ones we’ve had and how we developed them into better players than what they were when they came. We were certainly competing with the teams at the top end of the table.
“We hope to be doing the same here at Keith.”
