Dundee United goalie to join County?

With the news last week of several Ross County players being released and others being placed on the transfer list, it was only a matter of time before new players were linked with a move to Victoria Park to replace the out going players.

One of the main priorities for manager Scott Lietch was a goal keeper and I am reliable informed that Craig Samson who will leave Dundee Utd at the end of the month will be one of Lietch's first signings.


22-year-old Craig Samson joined Dundee Utd last summer when he was signed by former United boss Gordon Chisholm, he made a total of 8 league apperances for the Tanadice team, but with the change of managment mid season he was not favoured by the new boss Craig Brewster.

Samson was a youth product of Kilmarnock, but only managed to make one first team apperance for the Ayrshire club, mainly because most of his time there he spent on loan to fellow first division team Queen of the South (season 2003-4) where he was back-up to Colin Scott and only played in one competative match but in season 2004-5 he was loaned to St. Johnstone where he played 12 matches in the four minth spell.

At the end of season 2004-5 he opted to leave Kilmarnock and was offered deals at both Dundee Utd and Airdrie Utd, but he decided to accept a one year contract with the SPL side.

But he has been told that he will not be offered a new contract at Tannadice, and will become a free agent in June when he will sign a two year deal at Ross County.

Scott Lietch was questioned about Craig Samson by a local newspaper, but he refused to confirm or deny that Samson would be joining simply saying "I don't want to talk about a player who is still contracted to another club".

Craig Samson was a former Scotland U21 player under Rainer Bonhoff, but one of his most infamous events came about when Samson was arrested by the police after an incident in a Kilmarnock nighclub on the eve of a international match against Slovenia and spent the night in police custody. He was later released without charge, but he missed the match against Slovenia and because he broke a curfew impossed by Bonhoff he was banned from the national squad for three games and fined £300 - which went to charity, as were the other players who also broke the curfew !

Another player rumoured to be joining Ross County is Stranraer's left back Alex Keddie. The 25-year-old defender joined Stranraer last summer after spending several years in the junior leagues with Shotts, but he was a former youth squad player with St. Johnstone although never played for thier first team.

Described as a big, strong and committed player he was highly rated by the Stranraer fans, and should be a valuable asset to the Ross County team.