Murray poised to spring Buckie surprise
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VETERAN goal grabber Ian Murray could be about to make a shock return to action with Highland League champs Buckie Thistle.
Speculation that the striker, who turns 36 next month, had retired due to work commitments in Algeria has been quashed by Jags’ boss Gregg Carrol, who insists that ‘Molby’ is still in his plans.
Carrol revealed that Murray turned down an approach from his former club, Fraserburgh, and is still under contract at Victoria Park and available to play when he is back in Scotland.
With Jags missing a few bodies for Saturday’s league trip to Wick, the manager even hinted that Murray could make an appearance at Harmsworth Park.
“There’s nothing to say that he won’t play in the Highland League for Buckie Thistle again,” Carrol told ‘The Northern Scot’. “He might even have played last Saturday with the injuries we had, and he could be available for Wick on Saturday. We will look at that one nearer the time.
“People say that he’s packed in, but I’ve never said that. He said that he might want to retire, but at the end of the day he might be available again, so that’s great.
“Fraserburgh made an enquiry about him last week. As far as I was concerned he was not going but if Ian wanted to go himself that would have been a different issue.
“But he turned it down blank. He wants to stay at Buckie Thistle and I’m delighted with that. Nothing changes in my book.”
After watching his team clock up their second straight league win on Saturday – a 3-1 success at Clach – Carrol declared himself happy with his team’s start to their title defence.
He is pleased that the fitness levels of goalscoring pair Lewis Mackinnon and Graeme Stewart is far superior to last season, and both are making a greater impact on the field as a result.
“With Lewis there’s no argument about it, he didn’t score enough goals last year because he was not fit enough,” Carrol said. “This year he’s showing that if you’re going to be fit then you can play at both ends of the park rather than just one end.
“Spider (Stewart) is in the same boat because he’s come back slightly leaner and shown in the last two games that he can get up and down the park.
“We’re not getting carried away, but two wins was exactly what I was looking for. When you start with two hard games against Cove and Clach, it’s a good six points.”
