No season targets set by Rothes boss MacDonald
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ROTHES boss Steven MacDonald won’t be setting a particular target for his side as they prepare to get their Highland League campaign under way tomorrow against Turriff United.
The Speysiders have finished tenth in consecutive seasons, but putting a number on where they want to end this campaign doesn’t interest MacDonald.
He told the Northern Scot: “Obviously we want to improve, but everyone else does too.
“People are wrong to set targets of saying they want to be in X position. I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it, considering where we have come from.
“People have got short memories, it was only a couple of season ago Rothes were rock bottom. I’d like people to enjoy the whole thing a little more and stop looking at silly targets.
“It’s affecting some people’s enjoyment of the journey. You can have good results but they’re not getting the full satisfaction because they’re always wanting something better.
“I think we should enjoy the progress we are making. Last year we consolidated as a middle team and we are looking to build on that.
“People should try to enjoy it game by game.”
Rothes’ campaign starts with a trip to The Haughs tomorrow to face a young Turriff United side which ended last season in 15th place – their lowest ever Highland League finish.
And the Speysiders’ pre-season preparations ended with a 7-3 victory over Colony Park on Saturday, which followed a 3-2 success over North Superleague champions Banks O’ Dee.
The summer has been a success, says MacDonald, with all eyes now firmly on the Turriff match.
“The Colony Park match gave us what we were looking for. It gave us another competitive game, plus we wanted to score a couple of goals before the season.
“It’s been an encouraging couple of results and Monday was as good as I’ve seen them train in ages.
“They’ve probably had enough of pre-season now and are ready to get going with the competitive stuff.
“We know Turriff will be tough because they’re a good young side. We’ll need to be on it but we are in a good position.”
Going into the first game of the season, Rothes have almost a clean bill of health – with just Alan Pollock out of Saturday’s match.
But he is back in training, which is big news for MacDonald.
He added: “Alan will be like a new signing for us. He is so bubbly around the place and just loves his football.
“He is infectious. It gave everyone a big boost when they saw him in training, so hopefully he isn’t too far away from returning.”
