ARTHURLIE manager Chris Mackie can’t wait to get started after making wholesale changes at the Barrhead club.

With the transfer window opening on Sunday, the ‘Lie wasted no time in adding names to the squad, with 15 signing for the club by the end of Monday.

Just four players have been retained from last year’s squad, with 11 players having left the side, with Jordan Leyden and Gary Smith remaining on the transfer list.

And Mackie is content with the names he’s brought in, after making clear in recent months his desire to shake up the dressing room.

He said: “We’re going with a squad of 19 and we’ve kept four players from last year which means we’ll have 15 players to integrate into the club over pre-season.

“I’m looking forward to seeing how the new changing room evolves.

“We’re giving them a pretty gruelling schedule, they’ll be in four times a week for the first three weeks.

“Hopefully that can help to bond the squad together. I can’t wait to get working with them to be honest, it can’t come soon enough.”

Among some of the big names coming in are Colin Spence, Steven Weir and Mark McKenzie.

Spence signs from Troon, after spending 11 years with Auchinleck Talbot,winning 17 major honours and playing in six Scottish Cup finals.

Weir, 28, had spells with Livingston, Cowdenbeath, Dumbarton and East Fife before heading Down Under for several years.

And McKenzie joins from Clyde, and has vast experience in the game, having played almost 400 appearances in the Seniors.

Mackie added: “He [Spence] has been about on the junior scene for the best part of 10 years. I remember playing against him in the Scottish Cup final in 2009.

“It brings an experience to the middle of the pitch which I think we need. We’ve almost got an entirely new squad so I need big characters who can knit the changing room together and Colin falls into that category.

“I see him as a massive signing on and off the park, we’ve beaten another four or five Premier League clubs to his signature.

“Steven is the one I’m most excited about to be honest. He’s a cracking number 10 at the right age, he adds a threat and a creativity to the forward line.

“He [McKenzie]’s played senior football for 12 years and notched up close to 400 appearances. I used to play with him at Albion Rovers. He’s fresh to the juniors, no one will really know him and I think he’ll be a great addition to the league.”

Three players have also crossed the divide moving from rivals Pollok to Arthurlie.

Defender Chris Walker, striker Michael Daly and midfielder Kieran McAleenan, who has been made vice-captain of Mackie’s side.

The Lie manager said: “I think he[Walker] will instantly bring a steadiness to the back line. Any time we have come up against Chris he’s been organising his teammates. He’s a big unit and he can be dominant in the air in both boxes.

“He knows the league well and it’ another big personality.

“I go way back with Michael [Daly], we went to school together. He’s been at four or five senior clubs and had a really good spell at Petershill a couple of seasons ago.

“To get him from Pollok is a major boost, I know for a fact it was close between us and whether he would stay there. It’s a great piece of business, he’ll lead the line well and score goals.”

Other names to sign include MacAuley Wilson from Fauldhouse United, Jordan Craig from Blantyre Victoria, Steven Tart, Chris Lennon and Alex Wyper.

Also joining the club are Jamie Lindsay, Ryan McNeil, with goalkeeper Anton Nugent rejoining the club from Gartcairn.

Ryan McGregor returns for his sixth season and will be club captain this year, with Josh Graham, Kieran Brennan and Grant Hay remaining with the club for another season.