Elgin City failed in a bold bid to land former Aberdeen, Rangers Ross County and Partick Thistle defender Richard Foster.
The experienced 36-year-old, who also played for St Johnstone, was born in the Moray town and efforts were made to lure him back home once he left Championship side Partick Thistle.
Manager Gavin Price explained Foster, who also works as a pundit for BBC Scotland, is keen to remain at the highest possible level.
He said: “The club worked really hard on that over the summer and we had a number of chats with Richard.
“We did our very best as a club to get him, but he does want to keep playing higher than League 2, so that was unfortunate.”
Anderson signing is smart move
The one piece of successful transfer business so far has been the signing on a two-year deal of ex-Cove Rangers defender Jevan Anderson, who was on loan with Elgin last term before suffering a shoulder injury.
Price was delighted to land the 22-year-old, who is son of former Aberdeen captain Russell Anderson.
He said: “Jevan is a really good signing and another north-based (Aberdeen) player. He’s a strong player and was popular in the dressing room last season.
“Having another player from the north is important, particularly now we have the Gleaner Arena facility here at Borough Briggs.
“I do still think you need a few players from the south, who bring a different mentality at times, but training up north is really important to us.
“We have a really solid squad, as well as three or four young lads who may or may not go on loan.”
Boss targets three key areas of team
And Price is hopeful another new face will be confirmed in the coming days as he homes in on key areas for improvement.
He said: “We will be selective of who we bring in and they have to be better than what we have, to help improve us as a team.
“We still need to work on adding to our striking department, while we are one defender away from being complete there.
“The midfield is almost sorted, perhaps for a wide right player and then we’d be just about there.”
Players fitness on track for new term
Elgin’s current squad return to training this Thursday, but have been following fitness programmes as the side aim to become a promotion force again after finishing second bottom in League 2 last term.
The manager is leaving nothing to chance to ensure they are ready to fly out of the traps when their season starts in the Premier Sports Cup on July 9 away to Ayr United.
He added: “The players have been working hard over the summer. We had a big talk at the end of the season about how a poor pre-season through one thing or another last year really cost us.
“We will be fit coming back and we really aim to hit the ground running.”
Assistant changes work for Price
Last week also saw one assistant manager go and another come to Elgin City.
Former Brora Rangers boss Steven Mackay, who was brought in as Price’s number two last year, resigned due to increasing work demands in Manchester.
Price is grateful for the smooth handover from Mackay and is confident the working relationship with Weir will be fruitful.
He said: “Sid (Steven Mackay) had spoken to us before the end of the season, explaining how difficult it was logistically to get to training at times, with his work often based in Manchester.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Jim Weir as the Club’s new Assistant Manager.
Welcome back Jim 🖤
Full story can be found on our website here https://t.co/pmKGkirCUm pic.twitter.com/ceWSI29ZVT
— Elgin City F.C. (@ElginCityFC) June 3, 2022
“I really enjoyed working with Steven and we’re sorry to see him go. In fairness, he gave us plenty of time to plan for a replacement.
“The first choice for that position was a no-brainer. We’ve been working this summer trying to make Jim come to Elgin on a permanent move. With the experience we have in working together is a massive plus.”
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