Manager on loans, trialists and the search for new blood
Manager Greg Abbott today spoke about the importance of getting next season off to the best of possible starts.
“It’s an obvious statement but we need to be better and stronger than we were last season,” he said.
“We want to get off to a roaring start, sustain that, and then hopefully that will bring an increase in attendances. I should then see a bit of that extra revenue, as that was taken off me to some extent this season when the gates dropped.
“I’d go as far as to say that the start to the season is probably more vital than it ever has been. We’re a club which spends what it generates and we do well in that respect. I think it’s the only way to do business.”
“In terms of recruitment, we’ve looked at some really interesting players,” he revealed. “However, if we give our hand away we tend to find that other clubs will move in on the back of the business we’ve done.
“I don’t think we want to put a number on how many players we want to bring in. We have to wait and see who accepts their contract offers, because that will obviously alter the situation we will face, and anything we do additional to that has to fit financially.
“It’s a tough job but we definitely need three or four who will be ready to do a job right away. We’ve had to cut the cloth a little bit, but whatever is left will definitely come my way.”
“A lot of the work has been done and we’ve already spoken to a couple of players. What we don’t want is to rush into anything because we can’t afford that in terms of squad size and finances this time round.”
And as to whether the door would remain open for the players who have been released, he said: “You can never say never in football. As we speak, right now, the decisions have been made to release those lads and we expect them to move on. However, you just never know.”
“Pre-season is an important time when it comes to player recruitment,” he added. “There’ll be a lot of people out of work who are looking for a team.
“We’re always open to trial players and invitations to train with the squad because you never know what it will throw up.
“Francois [Zoko] was here on trial initially and he was a great success story. You always hope something else like that will happen when you bring these lads into the mix.
“What we don’t want is to have to rely too heavily on loan players. If we need part-funded players from bigger clubs then that’s how we’ll go, but we want to try to get a strong squad of our own, if possible, so that we can move things on.”
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