Robby McCrorie signing shows Kilmarnock recruitment turnaround

Derek McInnes has completed his third summer signing as Robby McCrorie officially signs on at Rugby Park.

The Rangers youth product left the club’s training camp on Monday to put pen to paper on a two-year deal, and will be in pole position to replace Will Dennis as number one for the coming campaign.

That the Bournemouth man probably wouldn’t be returning for the coming season was something flagged by McInnes a couple of weeks ago, and speaks something fans can feel pretty good about as the club goes about its summer business.

At the end of the campaign the manager talked up the possibility of bringing Dennis back, but with the Europa League qualifier with Cercle Brugge looming it was clear there was no room for hanging around.

Read More:

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• Kilmarnock sign Rangers backup goalkeeper Robby McCrorie

Speaking to the club’s official channels last month McInnes said: “We would have taken Will Dennis back in a heartbeat, we would take Corrie Ndaba back in a heartbeat if we could. But Will is going at a pace where he is training with Bournemouth, he will go on their American tour. He probably will go out on loan but, by that time, we will probably have moved on.”

With McCrorie signing on at Rugby Park, it’s clear having the squad in place as soon as possible is a priority, and that bodes well for the coming campaign.

New Kilmarnock signing Robby McCrorie (Image: Jeff Holmes)

The harsh reality when you’re a club in Killie’s position is that you’re not likely to be at the head of the queue when it comes to bidding for a player’s services.

There is an argument to be made for waiting for the man you really want, and Steve Clarke showed during his tenure that it can be done. Greg Stewart was signed late in the summer window in that 2018-19 season and was arguably the best attacking player in the Premiership before being recalled and joining Aberdeen, while Youssouf Mulumbu, so crucial in the run-in, only arrived for his second spell on the final day of the January transfer window.

All too often in recent seasons though we’ve seen moves for the top target fall through and the club left scrambling around to get someone through the door.

In the summer of 2020 Daniel Bachmann was on the verge of returning on loan from Watford, but plans changed late on. As a result Killie went into the campaign with Danny Rogers, Colin Doyle and Jake Eastwood as the options between the posts and, well, we know what happened next.

The reign of Angelo Alessio can be debated until the cows come home but what’s undeniable is the Italian was appointed relatively late in the summer and recruitment proved difficult – Osman Sow and Harvey St Clair as attacking reinforcements on the final day of the summer window were hardly what was needed in a team which had lost Jordan Jones, Mulumbu and Kris Boyd.

Toward the end of last summer’s window McInnes himself said he had some “plates spinning” as he looked to bolster his attacking options and, given he didn’t make a single start during his time at Rugby Park, it’s probably fair to assume deadline day signing Andy Dallas was some way down the list.

If there’s danger in waiting around for targets then there is, of course, risk in just diving in two-footed in the transfer market. Who can forget the day Lee Clark paraded 11 new signings on the same day in June 2016, or indeed turning up ever week to find some new recruit in the squad?

Lee Clark presents 11 new signings

His tenure did bring Freddie Woodman, Jordan Jones and Souleymane Coulibaly to Ayrshire but it also brought us Dapo Kayode, Floran Bojaj and Charlee Adams. No, me neither.

The proof will, of course, be in the pudding but this summer’s recruitment strategy appears to be striking the right balance so far. Returnees like Marley Watkins and Stuart Findlay were secured early in the summer, Bruce Anderson was identified and recruited quickly and when it became clear Dennis wasn’t going to be available on a timescale that suited the club moved decisively to secure a goalkeeper.

Going by McInnes’ words he may be willing to wait just a little longer for Corrie Ndaba but, based on the transfer campaign so far, we can be confident there will be an alternative lined up if the clock keeps ticking.

All-in-all it should put Killie in a far better place ahead of that Cercle Brugge tie than our last, ill-fated, European adventure.