Stewart Maxwell reckons managing a Junior club takes more out of him than playing the game ever did.

And little wonder when one reflects on the baptism of fire that ex-Petershill and Kilwinning Rangers defender Maxi has endured since his surprise appointment as the new Rob Roy gaffer towards the end of last season.

He and his backroom team of Paul Ronald and Billy Thomson were thrown in at the deep end when Rabs officials stunningly ousted previous boss Jimmy Lindsay just 72 hours before the Kirkintilloch outfit faced Glasgow Perthshire in the New Coin Holdings Cup semi-final.

Going down to a 4-1 defeat did not make for the best of starts to Maxi's reign and having to implement a harsh cost-cutting exercise during close-season re-signing talks hardly improved matters.

That sparked a parting of the ways with all but one – Chic Connolly – of last season's Adamslie Park playing squad.

Now even experienced midfielder Connolly has departed the Rabs scene after he moved to Bo'ness United on Saturday in a swap deal that sees defender Ryan Kennedy (younger brother of ex-Celtic centre-back John) join the Kirkintilloch outfit.

"I've very quickly realised this management game makes far more calls on your time and energies than being a player," said Maxi.

"Anything from 10-20 telephone calls has been the norm most days on top of numerous face-to-face meetings with players in my attempts to put together a team from scratch.

"It's been a very demanding time to put it lightly, but fortunately I've had two experienced guys like Paul and Billy to offer opinions on prospective signings and generally bounce ideas off.

"All the long hours and hard work over the past five weeks was there for all to see on Saturday when we started pre-season training with fully 20 new signings, inclusive of Ryan, a solid centre-back type who makes it a healthy competition for the jerseys with Jim Smith and Jon Carter."

Posted missing from the raft of newcomers was Rabs midfielder Kevin Bradley, much to the chagrin of gaffer Maxwell.

He revealed: "Kevin got in touch last week to say he would be keen to stay at Rob Roy but he apparently had a change of heart and turned his back on us at the eleventh hour to sign for Petershill."

However, a striker could soon arrive with the Rabs boss revealing he has high hopes of fixing up ex-Pollok ace Willie Sawyers.

Elsewhere on the transfer scene, new Irvine Meadow boss Stevie Rankin has snapped up Alloa midfielder Gary Stokes.

Former Medda goalkeeper Michael Wardrop has signed for Winton Rovers and his erstwhile team-mates Chris Strain and Brian Hewitt are reputedly close to putting pen to paper for Dalry Thistle.