Peterhead player-co-manager Jordon Brown hopes landing striker Kieran Shanks permanently will go some way to solving their struggles in front of goal ahead of next season.
Brown and Balmoor co-boss Ryan Strachan have made the 21-year-old the latest signing of what will be an extensive summer rebuild following the club’s relegation from League One to League Two.
Shanks, who was on loan at the Peterhead from Arbroath in second part of last term, has penned a two-year deal after the Blue Toon paid an undisclosed fee for his services.
Brown said: “We’re delighted.
“Me and Ryan made it one of our top priorities to get him in the door permanently.
“It was tough for him last year coming into the team we have, but we felt like he’s got the quality there to score the goals which can really bring success to the club.
“He’s quite a quiet lad, and keeps his head down really.
“But he’s shown on the pitch he’s a really hard worker and puts his body on the line for the team a lot of the time – as every player needed to do at the end of last season.
“With the right service and the quality in behind him, he can score a lot of goals.
“He’s shown that in his career by scoring a lot of goals for the Locos, and he got a few for Arbroath as well.
“Hopefully the platform’s there for him to kick on.”
Oldmeldrum-raised Shanks scored twice in 14 Championship appearances for Arbroath in the first half of last season after joining the Red Lichties from Highland League Inverurie Locos.
He would go on to three times in 17 League One games after arriving at Peterhead on loan for the second half of the campaign.
The Blue Toon ultimately finished bottom of third tier, scoring just 19 league goals – 10 goals fewer than any other team in the top four divisions of Scottish football.
Coincidentally, Arbroath – with just 29 goals in the Championship – scored the second-fewest.
‘Starting season with a recognised, fit striker’
Brown is backing Shanks to lead the line for Peterhead in League Two as they look to bounce back up at the first opportunity.
Having also added wideman Robert Ward from Locos since the season finished, Brown says he and Strachan are working on further attacking reinforcements.
He said: “It will be the first season where we’re starting with a recognised, fit striker – touch wood – for a couple of years.
“We’ve not scored anywhere near enough goals in the last two seasons, never mind last year.
“It’s something we’re looking to address. It’s easier said than done, as everybody wants strikers and good quality strikers, so we’re on the lookout.”
Brown and Strachan were confirmed as co-managers towards the end of the campaign, and the former is immersed in his first experience of squad-building, saying: “There was a fee involved.
“He still had two years because I think he signed a three-year (deal) with Arbroath last year. It was a bit complex and a lot of hard work went into it, especially for myself behind the scenes – but I think it shows the belief we’ve got in him that we fought to get it over the line.
“We’ve been working on it since the end of the season. It’s been back and forth, and obviously some of it’s a wee bit out of your hands, so you’ve just got to be patient with it, but I’m delighted to get it done.
“We’ve still in pretty early stages of the plans.”
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