CLYDEBANK captain Phil Barclay is yet to make a decision on his future as he mulls over retiring from the game writes David Brockett.

Barclay who made 13 appearances as Clydebank as they won promotion to the Premier Division, has been offered a deal for next campaign.

He has been given time to think about his future by manager Kieran McAnespie But with or without him, the skipper thinks the club is going in the right direction, and says a top six finish is a realistic goal for the Bankies next year.

He said: “I’ve spoken to the gaffer and there is an offer there. I had been considering hanging up the boots through family commitments, but I’ll think it over in the next couple of weeks and see how it goes.”

“I do think top six has to be the aim next year. We’ll strengthen again during the summer so I see no reason why we couldn’t be capable of challenging.”

McAnespie took the reigns in January and suffered a slow start to his managerial career, losing three of his opening four games.

And a 3-0 loss to 10-man Maryhill was the final straw for the players, which left the Holm Park side in sixth spot with six games to go.

Barclay added: “To be honest, at the start we were probably getting too much information.

“The Maryhill game was the turning point, we knew the performance that day was by no means good enough.

“We had a private meeting after the game, and from then on things seemed to click. We set ourselves the target of 18 points from the last six games, and to achieve it was a great feeling.”

“We had obviously been playing a certain way, and it took us a bit of time to get used to Kieran and Marco’s [Marc McCulloch] way of thinking. Everyone’s bought into it and the results speak for themselves.”

After the defeat to Maryhill, Clydebank won their last six games, including four teams that were above the Bankies before the run began.

They scored 19 goals in six games, with a 3-0 against Cumbernauld started it off.

But it was their trouncing of Kilsyth was the highlight of the run-in for the captain, beating them 3-0 at Duncansfield.

He said: “To react the way we did against Cumbernauld gave us a little bit of belief again, especially keeping the clean sheet and getting back on the scoresheet. From then on, we set ourselves the target of winning one game at a time.

“Kilsyth was probably the biggest win in the run, though. I think that’s where we really showed we wanted it by beating a team who were looking like they were going to win the league. That really burst their bubble and set us up perfectly.

“If I’m honest, if they had come in and had a full pre-season with the boys, I think we would have had that league tied up by Christmas.”