Whitstable Town FC

What a fantastic first week back in trainning, the attitude and the fitness levels of the players as been nothing short of superb, they have obviously looked after themselves during the close season and shown that they are prepared to work hard for a shirt come August 16^th. The last 3 months of last season has given everybody a massive lift, over that time the players showed that they can compete with any other team in the league and I also believe that not only do the players want to carry on from where they left off but also they know how important it is that we do get off to a good start if we are to compete in the top half of the table instead of the lower regions as we did for much of last season.

          The players and I included have received much well earned praise for the way we finished last season and rightly so, but I for one will not be getting carried away and neither will the players. At the end of the day we still finished in the bottom half of the table, conceding 84 goals along the way that leaves us with plenty of areas that we need to improve on and we will be doing everything we can to build on the vast improvement we made over the last 3 months of last season.

          For our 1^st ever season in Ryman League football to finish 13^th and finish in the fashion we did can only be looked on as a positive and was a fantastic achievement for the football club but it’s imperative that we continue in the right direction in terms of ambitions and performances because we don’t want to find ourselves in the same situation as Horsham YMCA who were relegated in their 2^nd season after finishing 9^th in their 1^st season, the season before last and now find themselves back in their county league.

          Every session this week has seen a turnout of nearly or just over 50 players and that’s with a couple missing due to holidays or work commitments so the attendance really has been pleasing. These are obviously not all 1^st team players but at this time of year there is no 1^st team as such, we train as Whitstable Town Football Club as I believe it’s very important that 1^st team, reserve team and youth team players integrate together as one for the pre season hard work.

         This week has seen four new players put pen to paper and sign Ryman League forms with the club as I aim to build a strong enough squad to compete in the right half of the table. Goalkeeper Jack Crawford a former trainee with both Birmingham City and Stevenage Borough, central defenders Paul Ainsworth and James Campbell who played for Sittingbourne and Walton & Hersham respectively last season and wide man Jack Tanner who returns to the club from Dover Athletic where he won Ryman League Division One South championship medal last season are all added to the retained squad from last season making competition for a shirt come August 16^th very competitive, which provides a headache that every manager wishes for, believe me.

          I’ve said many times over the past 2 months that the squad I finished the last season with does have a lot of potential and quality but as a manager who wants his club to be successful, I wouldn’t be doing my job properly and wouldn’t be being fair to my players or the supporters if that when the opportunity came along for me to sign players who I believe can make us a better team, I didn’t take it.