Assistant Manager Tom Rothery provides an update as to what's going on behind the scenes and gives his thoughts on the squad at the moment.
DK: First of all can you give us an update behind the scenes, with how preparations are going in general for pre-season?
TR: Training starts in a few weeks, all pre season games have been arranged too and this has been in place for a few weeks now. You don’t really stop when the season ends you have to get games booked in or you miss out.
DK: How pleased are you with the squad in general at the moment?
TR: I think we are in a pretty good position but we still have a couple of meetings taking place. Ideally we’d like at least one more in but if we can afford it then we will try to get two in which would be better squad depth wise I feel.
DK: Similarly, how pleased are you to have tied down the majority of last season's squad to new deals, and kept others on existing deals?
TR: We’ve kept 13 from last seasons squad and we tried to keep 14 but offered reengagement terms to that player but they’ve chosen to move on. We had some tough decisions but we felt that the players that we didn’t offer terms too either didn’t quite fit what we need currently or needed to find regular football for themselves. A notable one was Noah, great player but currently just can’t give us the commitment that we require and what this league requires so that was a real shame. Overall we are happy we’ve kept everyone bar one player that we wanted too and we have good experience in that 13 and loyal, local lads who have proven that they are more than good enough for this level.
DK: Can you give us an update on any possible new signings, how many more do you think we might make and how much of that can you tell us?
TR: We had 7/8 targets originally we managed to get 2 done quite early really and now we hope we can get these last 1 or 2 done. All going well Kev and I believe that then gives us a good balance and depth to have a good season. Flynn Crosthwaite and Ollie Fraser will come into the squad after performing well last season and showing real potential so we are close to the squad size we’d like to start with.
DK: We've currently announced two new signings in Jamie and Tommy Smith, you must be delighted to have got them in and done so quickly?
TR: Both will add different things but will certainly make us stronger. We’ve really needed a number 9 since Billy Hunt left and I think Jamie will add a lot. It’s a step up but we believe he has transferable skills in his hold up play and pace which will work in our team and will give us a good focal point which then supports players like Luke Ingram and Jamie McGrath and allows them to also be used in other positions but equally creates competition that we haven’t really had.
Tommy will give us great balance and add to us not only defensively but in attacking situations also. Kev and I still stand by playing Jake there last season and fact he walked away with three trophies backs that up but we did lose a bit of balance but the addition of Tommy again gives us options to move Jake back to his natural position whilst also then potentially freeing up Kyle Hammond.
DK: Lastly, with all of this, how excited are you personally, and the squad, for the new season and how close do you think preparations are to being complete?
TR: I’m just really determined to improve from last season. Despite the FA cup run and Suffolk cup win I found the season hugely frustrating and I just want the season to start to correct last season really. We are almost ready to go, games and training are done so hopefully get the last players over the line and we can then focus everything towards the start of the season. I don’t really do excited but I’d say there’s a real drive and desire to put some wrongs right.
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