Kavanagh secures signing number nine
Carlisle United have today signed local attacking midfielder Steven Rigg on a one-year deal which keeps him at Brunton Park until the summer of 2015.
Keswick-born Rigg, 22, joined Penrith from his home town club two seasons ago and grabbed an amazing 64 goals from his two-year stay at Frenchfield Park. This included a post-war Penrith record of 35 goals last season, a feat which earned him an invitation to join United on trial at the beginning of this month.
He scored the second goal in the 5-1 victory over Southampton last week as he continued to impress the management team and played a full 90 minutes against his former-club on Tuesday evening as Carlisle enjoyed a 6-0 victory in front of a bumper local crowd.
"Steven has obviously been playing at Penrith, which is a lower level than us, but with the amount of goals he scored last season we had to have a look at him," manager Graham Kavanagh said.
"He's a goal scorer and he knows where the net is, but there are areas of his game we want him to work on. He's never been a professional player before and he hasn't worked in the game full time, so it will be interesting to see what sort of fitness levels he can get to."
"We want to try and improve him technically in terms of his close control and his awareness," he added. "I've spoken to Steven and I've told him it's now a case of seeing how quickly he can get up to speed.
"It's a great opportunity for him to become a professional footballer and make his way in the game. We had a discussion as a staff the other day and, although he probably isn't quite there yet overall, he's definitely there in terms of his goal scoring. It's definitely worth us getting him in and helping him to develop from here."
"He's playing in what is probably our strongest area of the pitch so he will have a challenge on his hands to get into the team," he said. "That being said, it's a really good opportunity for him and I hope he takes it with both hands.
"It's important that players understand the environment they're coming into so it will help that he's a local lad. He'll understand the expectation the fans will have and he'll have the drive and determination to do well.
"He's done well in the games he's played so far. He's scored a couple of goals and he's been scoring in training every day. We've taken a chance on him and we'll see where it takes us."
